Selina Kyle - Life Before Crime
by AJ - Fiction Queen
Summary: I believe Catwoman wasn't always a villain and this is my take on what her teenage years might have been like if she was a hero before becoming a thief. Rated M for harsh language in some chapters, and a few suggestive themes. This is NOT A SMUT (AND I WILL NEVER DO ONE) , just setting the stakes a little higher as a precaution to possible readers. -Full summary in Prologue-
1. Prologue

_**Who knew Bruce and Selina used to have a near-perfect relationship in their young adult years? Who knew Bruce Wayne was so cheerful and full of bright passion in his early crime-fighting days? What happened to cause such a perfect setting to become the Batman and Catwoman we know now? What made Bruce so dark when he used to be so full of light? What caused Selina to turn to crime? This possible AU set in 2012 tells it all.**_

* * *

**_Prologue_**

My name, is Selina Kyle. I used to have a family.

When I was just 7 years old, my 5 year-old sister Magdalene and I witnessed something horrific; our mother committing suicide.

My father wasn't a good man when we knew him. He was violent, and to be honest, a drunken bum. I was around 3 when he started getting really bad. He'd come home intoxicated, and start yelling at my mother about stupid things, like dinner not being warm for him. And every so often, I would have the misfortune of seeing him hit my mother. He had his days though. For some occasions, my mother would do something to get him to sober up. Most of the time it was for Maggie or my birthdays, but there were rare occasions where he'd be home, sober, and sweet to us for some reason. Looking back, I could see why mother had fallen in love with him, I mean, when he was sober, you really thought you could see the sweet, tender man underneath that anyone could love. But he wasn't that man. The man my mother fell in love with died the day he picked up the bottle.

8 years my mother had to go through with him being drunk, and one day, she just snapped.

Even at 5, I could see it in her eyes, and the way she was starting to act was just…_off_. For that last year before…_the incident_…all she did was avoid my father, and repeatedly, she'd turn to Maggie or I and say _"Sorry"_ as if _she_ was the one who was doing something wrong.

It was the afternoon of my 7th birthday when it happened. We were out at our favorite park in Brooklyn, the weather was nice, and everything seemed fine, except for one thing; my father wasn't sober. It was the first time my father had ever brought a bottle with him on one of our birthdays. I never found out what caused him to find the need to take a swig, but ever since breakfast that morning, the smell of alcohol had gotten stronger on his breath. My mother complained about it, and one thing led to another and he slapped her in the face. But instead of yelling or crying, my mother turned to Maggie and me, said she was sorry one final time, and jumped off the beautiful park bridge, falling into the rock filled river below. In that moment, I realized at once why she had kept apologizing to us; she knew that if she was ever going to escape my father's torture, she was going to have to leave us.

It was fortunate that someone had seen what my father had done, because if the police hadn't arrived in time, he would have started taking his fury out on Maggie and me. When they did arrive, the police immediately restrained my father and stuffed him into the back of the car. I didn't—and still don't—miss him. He got what he deserved.

You might think that the beginning of my childhood was tragic, but trust me, the tragedy had only just begun.

Having no parents to take care of us, my mother's older sister, Miya—who lived in Gotham City—was given legal custody. She used to be a favorite aunt, but after the park, Aunt Miya never took her eyes off us. She became afraid and paranoid that the traumatic incidents my sister and I witnessed would make us go insane and cause us to become little monsters. It didn't help her paranoia when she caught me in my room one night. You see, while my aunt was out at the market that evening, I discovered a box of small knives—most likely for fighting—that appeared to have once belonged to my grandfather. It didn't take long for curiosity to kick in, and I started playing with them. One thing led to another and my aunt came home to find me throwing them at apples Maggie was tossing in the air for me.

It was about a day before Aunt Miya was signing papers to lock me up at 'Sprang Hall Juvenile Detention Center—a home for orphaned, delinquent girls. Yeah, she shipped me away to a _'Child House'_, and kept Maggie with her. Things must have been too traumatic for my sister though, because about a year after I was sent away, I got word that Maggie had apparently snapped and not only killed Aunt Miya, but also herself. I cried for endless nights after that. I literally lost everyone… but I couldn't continue with the crying… not at Sprang Hall.

My time there was horrid, and that was beside the fact that I wasn't able to make any friends.

Each floor was designated to one RA—more like _wardens_—who basically could do whatever they wanted to us. Our floor was assigned to Ty Gern, one of the oldest and meanest RAs at Sprang. I'm not sure what it was that I did or what was said about me, but he chose me as the new one to pick on. Every morning began with him waking me up before everyone else—dumping a bucket of ice-cold water on me—and sending me down to make food for everyone else on my floor. But just because I made the food for them all, didn't mean I got to eat the good stuff, or eat first. No, thanks to Ty, I was last to eat, and I basically got whatever scraps the other kids left behind. Oh, and I only had ten minutes to do so before he forced me to clean the entire kitchen… He made me do other chores too. And when I say chores, I mean E-VER-Y-THING. Meals, cleaning every room on our floor, making everyone's beds, clearing out trashcans, and anything else Ty could think of. And I had to do it and put up with it too, or otherwise I'd get a good beating—whips, fists, chains,… basically any punishment Ty chose.

Nights were about the only time I enjoyed at Sprang Hall; everything became quiet and I had no more obligations. And in that quiet, I would dream of escaping and what I would find in the outside world. Out in Gotham. I knew New York well, but after Maggie and I moved to Gotham to live with Aunt Miya, we never really saw the city outside. I barely even knew what Gotham was like, and the idea of its possible beauty haunted me in my dreams. It wasn't until one night—not long after I turned 10—that I decided I had no other choice but to leave Sprang Hall if I ever wanted to go out into the outside world.

It took about a year before I had worked out a clever, but dangerous plan that had taken endless nights to come up with, but by the next night, I finally managed to break out of Sprang Hall's clutches.

Gotham City wasn't at all what I was expecting. Yes, things are technically extremely advanced compared to other cities and states like I had always hear stories about, but everything is just a…mess.

After I escaped, I found myself in a den full of stray cats. Having no place to go, I stayed. The leader of the cats—as I later found out—called himself Marinn, and he and a female cat—Helilah—accepted me and helped me. It took two years, but I learned to communicate with the cats, and upon Helilah's suggestion, Marinn taught me how to be more like a cat—swift, agile, stealthy, etc. I had even mastered the art of hiding in the shadows. I was basically a cat in human form, especially after an incident that caused me to be able to have claws that extended out from under my nailbeds. In that time, I found myself forced to steal whatever food I could find. I was basically—well, really, I still am—a street rat. And because of it, I had a few unpleasant run-ins with a detective—now the GCPD's Commissioner—named James Gordon. He hates my guts.

For a while, I thought it was enough to be like a cat, but seeing the things that happened on the streets made me think otherwise. I realized it was too dangerous for me out on the streets without knowing some self-defense, so I took my problem to Marinn. He told me of a man named Theodore Grant who was an expert fighter and actually used his skills to be a vigilante. The moment Marinn had finished telling me about him, I asked him to take me to Grant to train.

Grant had been a little objectionable about training a 12 year-old girl, but in the end he agreed and taught me how to fight. I became strong and I knew how to throw a good punch. Grant was an incredible teacher, and even taught me how to drive a motorcycle.

When I turned 14, he told me that if I really wanted to be a skilled fighter, I should learn martial arts, and that I should find a man they called _The Armless Master_. He took some time to track down, but eventually I did. I was surprised that the Master actually had no arms—thus the name… durr younger me—but what had surprised me even more was that he was able to fight like nobody's business. He kicked my ass on multiple occasions. But, he was the best teacher I'd ever had. I trained with him for 3 years. He taught me as much as he could and said I was ready for the world, but just because I had finished with him, didn't mean it wasn't a bad idea to learn other fighting skills. I thanked him thoroughly, and just before I said my final farewell, he gave me an enchanted bullwhip as a gift for all of my hard work.

I quickly realized what I wanted to do with my life, and that was to be a hero. Doing good, I found, actually came easily to me, and once I started, I never wanted to turn to a life of darkness. I started waning off of stealing at 15, and at 17, I had completely given it up. I didn't want any part of the dark life, and I want—and of course, still do—wipe all of Gotham's darkness off of the streets. I knew I wasn't alone too. A man—most likely much older than I—dresses up in a suit and called himself Batman. He is far beyond my skillset, but we are out for the same thing; justice. So, I took a page out of his book and out of whatever I could find in the junk yard, I sewed together a black body suit with a mask that covered the top half of my face. And though I only have a whip—which is nothing in comparison to Batman's arsenal—I do my best to fight.

The whip's enchantment—as I had soon discovered—was it could appear and disappear with the snap of a finger. I'm still not sure where exactly it goes when it disappears, it just does. This was a major advantage.

It has been a year since I began this crusade, and it's been hard. But as tough as it gets, I can promise you this; I will never give it up.


	2. Chapter I - Bruce Wayne

**_Chapter I – Bruce Wayne_**

_April 9th 2012_

Minkas Jackan glared into my eyes, as if burning out my soul.

"Looking for something?" I ask, holding up the bag of stolen jewels.

"Couldn't you leave us alone for one night, you dumb cat?! I'm so sick of you messing up our plans!" Minkas shouts.

"Now why would I do that?" I ask, twirling my whip.

"How did you know we were here anyways?!" Jackan's brother, Shu, complained.

"Little birdy told me…." I smirk, "Or should I say, _little kitty_."

Minkas's girlfriend pounded her fist into her hand, "You going to fight us or what, bitch?!" she growled.

"Tsk tsk tsk, such language Darla…." I say.

"GRRRRRAAAHHH!" Minkas yells, charging at me.

I throw the bag up onto a fire escape and easily step aside to avoid Minkas, letting him run five feet past me before realizing he missed. I flick my whip around his stomach, yanking him towards me. "Now Minkas, I never knew you were such a baby…having temper tantrums makes you look so immature…."

"You know what Cat? F*** YOU!" he shouts, trying to punch me.

I kick him back, my left eyebrow raised, "Oh Minkas, you mouth is more foul than your girlfriend's! I'm disappointed in you…." I mock.

Shu and Darla come at me, black baseball bats raised, and in a swift movement, I do a front handspring, whacking out my legs out sideways to knock them away simultaneously.

They groan but don't fall down. Instead, all three of the Jackan Gang come charging at me again. Uh oh...Think Selina, THINK! I notice something jutting out of the wall near me. Ah, there's my chance! In a flash, I sling my whip around whatever it is and swing upward, knocking Minkas and Shu into a wall, knocking them out in the process. Once on the roof, I whip the bag of jewels into my arms and wave it back in forth, teasing Darla. "Come and get it birdbrain!" I shout.

Darla glares, "Really biatch? You're gonna play that game?" she yells, "Why don't you stop being a coward, come down, and actually do something other than yakking on?!"

"Oh I will do something eventually, but pissing you off right now is far more fun." I sneer.

Darla throws her bat up at me, but it misses and bounces pitifully off of the brick wall with a loud *CHINK*.

"Is that really the best you got?" I call, lazily sitting down with my legs hanging over the edge.

Darla glares at me, but throws her hands up in frustration and turns to walk away. I chuckle to myself. Then, in an instant, I swing down and slam her into a wall, knocking her out. I chuckle again; never turn your back to your opponent. It's a lesson I learned the hard way a long time ago.

After making sure all three of the Jackan Gang are out, I drag them to a lamp post right in view of any passerby, and secure them to it by their necks with a couple of bike chains I scrounged for in the junkyard last night. I tie the bag of stolen goods to the light above their heads, and just before I ride away on my old Harley Night Train, I leave a sarcastic note for the GCPD taped to Minkas's head.

* * *

When I get back to the den, a gray tabby greets me and rubs up against my legs,

"_Hello Barty."_ I say, reaching down to pick him up.

"_How did things go?"_ he meows.

"_Fine…"_ I say, stroking Bartus—Barty—'s head, _"But I have to say, it wasn't my best work."_

Bartus frowns, _"How so?"_

"_Ehhh, I just think I could have been better. Faster, slyer, etc."_

Bartus nudges his head under my chin, _"Uh huh, sure…."_ he teases.

I flick him on the nose playfully and set him down. _"Boots!"_ I call with a smirk.

Within a few moments, a dorky young cat with black fur and white paws waltzes into the foyer, _"Yeeessss Selina?"_ he asks, cocking his head.

"_Go get Lotus and the others, I brought Salmon for dinner since it's a special occasion." _

Boots purrs and bounces away, _"SalmonSalmonSalmon!"_ he says excitedly to no one in particular.

Once Boots is out of earshot, Bartus looks up at me, _"Salmon? How on earth were you able to get such expensive fish…? You didn't steal, did you? Because you promised you wouldn't anymore."_

I hold back a laugh; oh Bartus… The only cat—other than his mother, Helilah—I've ever known who didn't like thieving…

"_No. Not at all."_ I pause to look up at the cats pouring in towards the ancient dining table, _"I'll explain later."_

One by one, I dish out the pink fish to my feline family, and am greeted with a purr from each one. Unlike most formal English—well, and _human—_families, my family and I never wait for other people before eating, so before I have even sat down, all of my cats are already eating, the room a roar with purring and the smacking of mouths.

Bartus is the first to finish, and he looks down the table at me, _"Thank you, Selina. And not just for this meal, but for starting this clan and giving us all shelter and food for all these years. Today we honor the first clan, led by Marinn Tarver, and honor the day you came into our den. I was merely a kitten at the time, but you changed all of us, and saved my life. You are my best friend, and I think I speak for all of us when I say, you are a savior to all of us."_

"_Cheers to that!"_ a gray Scottish Fold with piercing orange eyes shouts, and all the cat join in.

"_Thank you Bartus, and Malü, and all the rest of you."_ I grin, my cheeks warming from the compliments, _"My life would be nowhere without the clans, and you all are the best family I've ever had."_

As many of the cats head to their beds, Bartus and I head into the main corridor, _"You had something to tell me?"_ he asks.

"_Ah, yeah…"_ I look around to make sure no one is eavesdropping, _"I, um, _met_ someone while I was near the market today."_

"_Human or feline?"_

"_Human."_

"_And?"_ he asks curiously.

"_He was a bit strange, but he seemed nice."_

"_Oh, a _he _huh?"_ Bartus interrupts me with almost a _knowing_ tone in his voice.

"_Don't." _I say, squinting at him,_ "That has nothing to do with this… As I was saying, he was a bit odd."_

"_How so?"_

"_Well for one, he seemed to know what happened to me as a child… something almost no Gothamites actually remember…"_

"_Hmmm…"_

"_And what was the weirdest, was that he just straight up gave me a loaded credit card!"_

"_Wait, what?"_

"_Yes!"_ I say excitedly, showing him the silver card, _"And now, he wants me to meet him for lunch tomorrow at a fancy café."_

Bartus looks astonished, _"You aren't actually considering it, are you?" _

"_He gave me a fricking credit card with a couple thousand dollars on it, Bartus! Meeting this guy for lunch is the least I can do."_ I exclaim, _"And plus, he seemed to want to tell me something. Like he knew more than what he was letting on… I'm too curious _not_ to go."_

"_Well you can't go looking like you usually do, you'd stick out like a sore thumb in that restaurant."_

"_Then what do you suggest?" _

"_Well, you already have the money,…and I know of a really pompous 'spa and shop' just around the corner. We can go first thing in the morning." _

"_But won't I stick out just as much there?" _I ask in a puzzled tone.

"_Pull an act, Selina. You've managed to do that before, haven't you?" _

I pause. He's referencing my thieving days when I was younger… Back then, I'd occasionally pull a stunt where I'd sit on the corner, acting desperately cold and hungry, begging for food. And, every so often, I'd manage to drag in a customer. As soon as they heard my sap story, they'd immediately hand me a piece of clothing, money, or food, and they would be so oblivious, that they wouldn't even notice me swiping more things from their bags and pockets. I had gotten very good at that. But I haven't done that in years. I've changed. I promised myself I'd never belong to that world again.

Bartus stares up at me, waiting for an answer, but he seems to realize what I'm thinking, _"Selina, it wouldn't be stealing—you know I wouldn't encourage that. The guy you met gave you the money for a reason, and this is most likely one of them. The money basically _belongs_ to you at this point, all you'd be doing is making up a story so you won't look like you stole the card and/or get completely kicked out of the store."_

I ponder this. He _is_ right.

"_We'll go first thing in the morning." _He says, _"Now come on, let's go to bed."_

As soon as Bartus is asleep, I sneak out to the dump to do a little _shopping_ for my disguise tomorrow, and once I do return home again, it doesn't take long at all for me to fall asleep. And when I do, I start dreaming about the encounter earlier today.

* * *

I was at the fish market—my usual roaming place—in some of my ratty clothes, looking for scraps dropped by clumsy customers. As I was walking, I spotted a pile of fresh flounder, and stared longingly at it as I walked. I wanted so desperately to steal some, but I couldn't. But, I was so enticed by it, I didn't even notice the young man walking in my direction until it was too late and we had both fallen to the ground. I knew it had been an accident on both our parts, but the way he bumped into me…it almost seemed forced.

"_I am so sorry!"_ I apologized, my eyes filled with concern; he seemed like one of the rich and pompous of Gotham—especially with the thousand dollar suit he was wearing—and I had just knocked him to the ground.

The man stood up and gave me a funny look, and I suddenly realized I had said it in feline. I quickly repeated myself before the mood became even more awkward.

"That's alright." he said in a deep voice, helping me to my feet. He raised an eyebrow, "Did you meow at me just a second ago?"

"No!" I said, just a little too quickly.

The man stared at me suspiciously, but his frown turned into a kind smile and he stuck out his hand. "I'm Bruce by the way. Bruce Wayne." he announced, shaking my hand, "What's your name?"

"Selina… Selina Kyle." I said slowly. I knew my name more than anyone, but I hadn't said it fully—or in English for that matter—in years.

"Selina Kyle…" Bruce repeated, thinking. "I feel like know that name… Have we met before?" he asked.

"I don't think so." I said with a shaky laugh. I'm still a wanted fugitive, and I shouldn't have said my real name. I seriously put my freedom and safety in jeopardy. Nice going Selina… "I should be heading back." I said awkwardly and turned to leave,

"Wait! Don't go." Bruce said, grabbing my arm.

I stared at him, "Why not?"

He laughed nervously and looked at his feet, "Uh, can we just walk and talk for a second?"

I scrunched my eyebrows, "Uuhh okay…I guess."

We walked around the market, but the food wasn't what had my attention. This man, Bruce Wayne, was odd. And while I know I didn't know him from before, I couldn't help but feel like I knew him.

"What's your interest in me,…Bruce?" I asked.

He gave me a look that said '_I want to tell you everything_' but he glanced away nervously, "Erm, you want some, uh, fish?" he asked

"Um, I guess,…" I raised an eyebrow, then shook my head, trying to focus, "Don't get off topic. I want to know who you are and why you suddenly want to talk to me."

He sighed and got close to my ear, "_I know who you are, Selina._"

I wanted to shout out 'WHAT?!', but I didn't because there were too many people and it would attract a lot of attention. Instead, I stared at him, my eyes big as saucers.

He put his hand over my mouth, "_Shhh, don't worry, I'm not going to turn you in to the police. You don't deserve to be locked up in a cell after what happened to your family._" He said in undertone.

"_H-how do you remember that? Or even know me? The police closed things up ages ago and the only person still on the lookout for me is Jim Gordon._" I whispered back

"_Let's just say he's a friend of mine._"

"_B-but you're not going to turn me in_?" I asked, paranoid.

"No," he glanced around, "_But I am giving you this._" Suddenly he shoved a silver credit card in my hands.

I stared down at in amazement.

"_Use it for whatever you want. I've got a couple thousand saved up in that account, and now it's yours. And if anyone is suspicious of the money, you can verify it with your name and the code I left on the back."_

I glanced up at him in awe, then stared down at the card again, examining it.

"Wow… Thank—" I stared to say, looking up, but he was gone, "—you?"

I turned the card over again, this time noticing something taped to the back. A note. I pulled it off and unfolded it. This is what it read:

'_Verification code: 5231991_

_If you want to know more about my secrets and what I know of yours, meet me at the Café Le Petit Luxurieux around two o'clock. I'll be waiting for you at the door.'_

* * *

_April 10th_

The dream fades quickly and I awake with a jolt to the sound of a yowling cat. I roll over to see a huge snake cornering Bartus. Its jaws are open, ready to strike, but something seems weird about it.

Before it notices me, I leap out of bed, land on top of it, and rip off the head with my hands. But instead of bloody insides, the snake is filled with wires and gears. I look at the head and see the eyes are made of glass.

"_Thanks."_ Bartus says gratefully.

"_No problem…"_ I say, staring at the robotic body, _"How did it get in here?"_

Bartus tilts his head and nods at small hole where the wall meets the floor, _"T__unneled__ its way in."_

Why a robot though? What was it after? Who sent it? I don't bring this up to Bartus. He wasn't paying attention to what was inside the snake when I ripped it apart, and now I'm thinking I shouldn't even bring it up or else he'll worry.

"_You gonna take me to that 'Spa and Shop'?"_ I ask, pulling on the torn—but still evidently expensive—dress I found at the dump last night.

"_Sure… What's with the dress though?" _

"_It's part of my disguise for the act."_

"_Ah. Well you go ahead and get ready, I'll be waiting for you out front."_

"_Okay." _I say. I turn to the ancient box of makeupI was lucky enough to discover last night and start putting it on. Once I have it in a way that looks normal, I wet my fingers and smear it across my face as if I cried and rubbed my face. I don't have to do much to my hair because it's already a big mess. Finally, I tuck the silver card and the note with its verification code into my shoe to hide it. And now, my disguise is complete. Of course, my lingering smell and body hair is something that doesn't quite play along with the story I'm building in my mind, but if it does get to that, I'll be too far in for them to do anything.

"_Oh my…" _Bartus says as I walk out of the opening to the den.

"_All part of the act my dear Barty."_

"_Pretty ridiculous if you ask me,…but I'll admit, you do look pretty convincing."_

I smirk.

* * *

The spa andshop Bartus brings me to is called _The Pampered Ones_. We now stand near its front doors, but Bartus is keeping me back.

"_You still sure you trust this guy?"_ he asks.

"_Yes."_ I say firmly, though right now, I'm basically asking myself the same thing.

As I walk into the store, I begin to get strange looks from other shoppers who look like they are extremely rich.

One of the shoppers walks slowly to the counter—watching me the whole time—whispers something to a manager named Malcolm, and points in my direction. Malcolm nods, his eyes slightly narrowed at me, and walks across the store to me.

"Good day." He says snobbishly, "Can I help you with something?" he adds, his eyes scanning my appearance up and down.

Being quite skilled in this kind of acting, I force tears to my eyes, "P-please monsieur… a group of delinquents mugged me a-and d-did…things…" I sob. Yeah, I know, not one of my best stories, but judging by Malcolm's peaked interest, I'd say he's buying it, "They ruined my clothes and stole everything I had on me,…except this." I say holding up the card. Malcolm's eyes are wider. "Please, I can't go to the police l-looking—looking like this. And to make things worse, I'm supposed to meet my love for lunch this afternoon and I have nothing to wear!"

You may be thinking, 'Well that was the vainest and most unbelievable story in the history of sob stories…', but in truth, that's the kind of crap you'll hear from most of the rich and vain in Gotham. Yes, some of them actually care more about their appearance than their own wellbeing… Pretty sad, right?

Anyways, Malcolm buys it word for word and stares at me worriedly, probably thinking I'll get him fired for treating me poorly, but you and I both know I wouldn't do that even if I could.

"I am so so sorry Madam, I'll see to it that you'll get the best of care here. But first, I just need to check to see if your card is valid… if that's alright with you."

I nod, dramatically brushing away my tears, and give the card to him.

"Now you'll just need to type in your code after I swipe, and the computer will do the rest."

Malcolm swipes and I type in the seven digit code. In a second, the computer shows the balance, which—to both of our amazement—is a solid 50 grand. A number way beyond what Bruce told me it was. Malcolm's eyes are wide, but I hide my surprise.

"Er, Molly, pick out all of our finest dresses for this young lady." he calls over his shoulder to one of the other employees. The woman looks over me, curiously raising an eyebrow, but nods and goes to grab the garments.

"Here Madam." He says, handing me a handkerchief, I dab my eyes like I've seen actresses in movies do and hand it back to him. I fake a gloomy smile.

"Now, if you'll follow me to the spa in the back, we have a talented esthetician, hairdresser, and makeup artist that can fix you right up!"

"Certainly, that sounds lovely." I reply, having to hide how absolutely excited I am that I'm getting to be pampered this much.

"Right this way then!"

The spa area in the back of the building that Malcolm was referring to is amazing! It has sparkling, pale pink granite floors, cavernous ceilings with large crystal chandeliers, large marble tubs with many faucets, and a mirror on every wall.

On one side, there are hair and makeup stations with cushiony seats at every one, and the other side is all tubs, nail stations, massage areas, and some stations for something I don't know.

"Here we are." Malcolm announces, stopping at the third tub, "Your esthetician will be with you shortly."

I nod and sit down in a chair beside the tub.

Within minutes, a woman with a name tag that says _Betty_ and is no more than a couple years older than me, walks to my chair. "Right this way" she says, pulling me behind a curtain. She tells me to undress.

Meanwhile, Betty turns on one of the taps and tests the water. When she thinks it is warm enough, she motions for me to get in.

When I slide into the water, it's like I'm in heaven—I haven't taken a _real_ warm bath in probably 10 years. Betty ties up my hair, picks up a bath sponge, and begins to scrub my back and then my arms. When she finishes the areas I can't reach on my own, she hands me the sponge so I can clean the rest of my body.

When I am free of years of muck and grime (and the smeared makeup I added to the concoction earlier), I get out of the tub and Betty promptly hands me a fluffy white towel and a robe, which she ties around me after I'm done drying myself.

Next, she sits me down at the closest station (the one I don't know) and turns a small knob which starts to heat something in a metal dish.

Betty pulls some strange, shiny paper out of a drawer and lays it next to the metal dish. She turns to me, "This might be a little hot." she says as she dips a rubber tipped stick into the dish. When Betty pulls it back out, I immediately recognize the substance. It's warm, melted wax. Betty paints it onto my legs and lays a sheet of the paper on top of it. Then, without warning, she rips all of it off, taking the hair on my legs with it. I nearly scream, but I bit my lip. "Sorry." Betty says, pressing her cold hand on my shin.

"What was that for?" I ask a little squeakily.

"I'm removing the hair off of your body." she replies. She looks at me curiously, "Haven't you ever gotten a wax?"

"No!" I say, gasping from the pain

Betty stares at me for a second, but doesn't question me.

Like I said before, if it ever did get to this point, I'd be too far in for them to do anything. And this, is pure evidence of that.

After a long and painful session of waxing, I am completely hair free.

Betty moves me to one of the nail stations and sets up two bowls, what almost looks like a mini hot tub, a bunch of small tools for nails, and 3 bottles of nail polish. She has me put each hand into the warm, soapy bowls of water and my feet into the now bubbling tub. She rubs my legs and arms with a sweet mineral scrub and begins cutting away my cuticles on my hands, then on my feet.

After that, she cuts and buffs each nail to perfection, she puts on 4 layers of nail polish on—a clear bottom coat, two coats of white (only on the tips), and one top coat.

When my nails are dry and smooth, she takes me to a hair washing basin with another woman (her nametag says Scarlett) standing beside it, "Your hairdresser is ready for you now." Betty says as she sits me down in the chair.

Scarlett unties my hair and has me lay back so my head is resting in the basin. After she turns on the water, she asks me if it's warm enough.

"Yes, it feels perfect." I say, closing my eyes to enjoy the water.

Scarlett washes and scrubs my hair, making it all sudsy, and then rinses it thoroughly. When my hair is—for the first time in forever—_sparkling_ clean, she moves me to the hair and makeup station.

"What style would you like your hair to be?" she asks, handing me a pamphlet.

I flip through all the styles until I find one that I think fits my style—a sort of asymmetrical bob cut. I show it to Scarlett, but she gives me an astonished look.

"But dear, are you sure you want that much cut off? A fine young lady like you should go with a style like this." She points to a long wavy cut that comes to the chest and has soft, side bangs, "I think your man will find this cut makes you look more like a princess!"

I think it over for a moment, "Hmmm… Alright!" I agree finally. Eh, why not go full out on beauty? It's not like I can't afford it…

Scarlett starts by combing out my hair, pulling out all the large knots that have developed over the years. She pins up large upper sections of hair, and begins cuts my black, waist length hair until it's all the same length. After that, she cuts a section near my forehead shorter to create the bangs.

When all the hair has fallen to the floor, Scarlett then brushes my hair out again and dries it. After that, she curls the tips of my hair into long curls that shape around my face in an elegant oval.

"How do you like it?" she asks when she finishes.

"Like it? I love it!" I exclaim.

"Good." She smiles, "Your makeup artist will be with you in a moment."

Pretty soon, a man named Norbert comes to take Scarlett's place.

"How are you today young lady?" he asks, his voice is a little higher than I expected and slightly nasally.

"Very well thank you."

"I do hope you are enjoying it here." Norbert says, pulling out his many makeup brushes and beauty products.

"Oh yes sir! Everyone has been treating me well!" I grin.

"Very good!" Norbert pulls out a piece of paper with variations of makeup looks, "Now, my dear, what look are you going for? Nude, model, celebrity, severe, or business-like?" he asks, gesturing to the different styles on the page.

"Do you have a style that would be fit for a princess?" I ask. Like I said, why not?

"Certainly, darling." he says, and pulls out a separate sheet of paper. "Does this work?"

I look it over, from the very light shading above the eyes, to the tiny jewels stuck to the very edges of the eyes, "Absolutely!"

Norbert goes straight to work.

After many layers of makeup, Norbert holds up a mirror so I can see my new look. I nearly shout when I see my face. It is the first time I have ever seen myself look remotely beautiful. In fact, I think I could actually say I look stunning!

"Do you like it?" he asks.

My mouth moves soundlessly. I am left speechless by what I look like.

Not being able to say anything, I just nod and smile at him.

"Well, then it's finally time for you to go try on some dresses!"

I nod again. Norbert takes me back out to the front of the store and to Malcolm.

"Ah, here's the lovely young lady." Malcolm looks pleased and surprised at how different I look. "All cleaned up are we?"

"Yes, thank you. I feel so much better!"

"Good. I'm glad to hear it. Now, I have gathered all of our finest clothes for you to try. Which one would you like to try first?" Malcolm asks, gesturing to the many beautiful dresses behind him.

"That one." I say, pointing at a short, strapless, blue one.

"Ah. You have good taste Madam."

Malcolm hands me the dress and sends me into a dressing room.

As lovely as the dress is, it just isn't appealing on me. It's a little too poufy for my figure and makes my legs look fat.

When I hand the dress back to Malcolm, he frowns disappointedly, and has me try on an ankle length, lavender dress with three-quarter sleeves.

It fits me well, but I hate lavender, so that isn't the one for me either.

After I try on the tenth dress, Malcolm hands me a knee length, red tea dress, with tiny jewels woven into the fabric at the chest.

I put it on and stare at myself the mirror. It's an absolute perfect fit in every way!

I step out of the dressing room, and twirl once.

"It looks fabulous on you dear." Malcolm grins, "What else would you like?"

I think about what I would need if I was ever asked out again, "Do you have any skirts and blouses?"

"But of course my lady!" Malcolm replies with a very large smile. I can tell he's enjoying this, especially since I'll be giving him quite a lot of money.

"Right this way." he says.

I must have tried on 4 dozen different outfits and I want nearly all of them, but I know I still have to get other things. So I choose 5 interchangeable outfits—including the dress—and ask Malcolm to put them on the counter.

He smiles at me, "Well, Madam, there is something you are forgetting."

"What is that?" I turn to face Malcolm.

"You still need some accessories to go with those outfits! You would look quite peculiar if you went to your lunch without some proper shoes or a bag now wouldn't you?"

I chuckle, "Of course!" The large smile that has already been on my face grows even wider. This day just keeps getting better and better.

After trying tons of shoes, purses, hair bows, and jewelry, I am finally presentable for lunch with Bruce along with some extra clothes for other occasions.

"Are you ready to check out now dear?" Malcolm asks.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure."

"Alright." He says, his voice going up a little at the end of the word, "And your total is $14,819.93."

"_Oh wow…_" I mutter under my breath.

When I walk out of the store, Bartus is _not_ the one waiting for me. In his place is a pale yellow cat with dark rings around her back, staring off at the sky.

"_Hello Lotus. Where'd Barty go?"_

Lotus's attention jolts back to earth when she hears my voice. _"Oh, he went home ages ago. He told me to come wait for you after a couple hours so I could take you to the Café Le Petit Luxurieux."_

"_Oh… How long was I in there?"_

"_About 6 hours__."_ Lotus says, as if it's nothing.

"_Okaay! Wow. Then I need to head over to the café right now!"_

* * *

Just before I reach the café, I call out to a few strays and have them carry my bags and follow Lotus back to the den.

Bruce is waiting at the door of the café, just as promised. "You came!" He says, sounding completely astonished.

"You thought I wouldn't?"

"No… Most girls I've met usually don't when I've asked them."

I frown, "I wonder why they would do that. I mean, you seem like a fairly nice guy."

Bruce's cheeks turn an ever-so-slight shade of pink, "I guess I just haven't met that many nice girls."

Now I'm the one who's blushing, "…Well, are you going to take me in? I'm kind of hungry you know." I grin.

Bruce laughs "Right! Sorry…" he opens the door for me, "You look amazing by the way, I love your hair."

I blush even more; no one has ever complimented me before, not really even Bartus. "I never got a chance to thank you yesterday." I say as we walk towards the Host Station.

"Selina, you don't need to thank me. I knew you needed help, and it was no trouble."

"Well thanks anyways." I smile. Knew I needed help? Between already having a bank account set up for me already, and these comments, this Bruce guy seems to not only know a lot more about me than I know about him, but also like he's been watching my every move. I don't say this in case I'm wrong, but I do wonder if he's been watching me or something.

I stay silent as the hostess takes us to our reserved table, and once we sit down, I find myself staring at Bruce.

"Something wrong?" he asks.

I break out of my daze, "Huh…? Wha?... Uh, no. Sorry, just thinking."

"Aboouut?" he asks, looking back into my eyes.

I pause. Should I voice my suspicions? No,…not here. I don't want to spoil the mood… I guess.

When our waiter comes back to give us our drinks, Bruce immediately hands him both of our menus and just says "The usual, but for two." without letting me have any say in the matter.

I smirk, planning to make a joke out of this, "So you invite me out for lunch via a note, and then don't let me order my own food? Sounds like trap to me." I chuckle.

Bruce laughs—he has such a nice laugh—and sets his hand on the table,…awfully close to my hand…

"Trust me, you'll like this. It's a favorite of mine, and was also my mother's favorite.

"Was?" I ask.

Bruce looks down, "Yes. Both of my parents are,…gone."

My eyes widen, "G-gone? You mean,…_dead_?" I ask, almost whispering the last word.

Bruce inhales deeply.

I put my hands over my mouth, "Oh my god… I am so sorry. I had no idea." Suddenly, I remember how I know Bruce. Memories start flooding into my head. Clippings of articles bearing the words 'THOMAS AND MARTHA WAYNE MURDERED', or 'WAYNE FAMILY TRAGEDY.' I had just arrived at Sprang Hall when the story hit the news. All of the older kids talked about poor Bruce Wayne, who watched his parents bleed and die in front of him at only 8 years old. I still don't know the full story, but I can remember me comparing myself to 'that Wayne' boy.

"I—I remember that now…" I say, impulsively putting my hand on his to comfort him, "I was only six when it happened, but everything is coming back to me… I'm so so sorry."

Bruce subtly turns over his hand and squeezes mine, sending butterflies chasing through my stomach, "It's alright, Selina."

I want to say more to him about the matter, but before I do, the waiter comes back with a basket of bread, two small salads, and a plate of crackers topped with assorted, fancy dips, meats, and cheeses.

Bruce releases my hand and the butterflies disappear. "This it?" I ask, staring down at the food.

Bruce chuckles, "No, no, this is just the appetizer."

I raise an eyebrow, "What is with you posh people and having multiple courses off food? Can't everything just be brought out at the same time so you can eat what you want?"

This comment makes Bruce crack up. "It's not just us 'posh' people, all restaurants serve the food in courses. Haven't you even been to a restaurant before?"

Truthfully, once, but being the dumpy place it was, it doesn't count. "No." I say, taking a bite of salad.

"That would explain it." he laughs.

"Hardy har har." I stab my fork into my salad again, a smile peeking through my frown.

Bruce picks up a cracker topped with smoked tuna and absentmindedly starts a sentence. "So, how are your ca—" he immediately stops, his eyes wide as he realized what he was saying.

I frown. Was he just about to ask what I think he was about to ask?

"My what?"

"Erm…" he mumbles, and quickly pops the cracker into his mouth.

He was, wasn't he…?

"Okay, time to fess up Brucey boy. How much do you know about me, why are you treating me like an old friend, _how_ do you know me, and why did you ask me here in the first place?" I scowl.

"Er, can we _not_ talk about this here?" he asks, keeping his head down, his eyes focused on his salad.

"Why? What's the problem?" I ask, frowning. Who the heck did he think he was? Better yet, why am I even sticking around? If he is what I suspect he is, I should have left ages ago.

"This is not the best place to talk about this… can we just wait until we're finished eating?'

I don't know what's keeping me here, but I say "Fine." Without another word.

The only time we say anything again is when our main course arrives and I ask what it is. "French Onion soup and a smoked salmon croissant." He says briefly.

I love both immensely from the moment I taste them, but I'm too irritated to say that.

Bruce pays the check silently and we leave, not a word spoken as we walk out the doors.

A black limousine is waiting for us at the curb, a chauffeur holding the rear door open. "What's the car for?" I say monotonously.

"You want me to explain, don't you?"

I cross my arms, "Uh huh."

"Then get in. You have a lot of listening to do."


	3. Chapter II - The Bat and the Cat

**_Chapter II – The Bat and the Cat_**

_April 10th_

"Alfred, this is Ms. Selina Kyle, Selina, this is Alfred Pennyworth. He's my butler."

"Uh huh." I say blandly, my expression placid. I was working so hard to ignore my suspicions and just have a good time,…but then those suspicions just _had_ to turn out to be true… How can I not act like this? How else would one act if she (or he) was lured into trusting someone who really did turn out to be lying?

I step into the car and Bruce follows, closing the door behind him.

"Okay, start talking, Wayne." I frown.

He sighs, "_Um,…how do I put this…_" he mutters.

"Spit it out, or I swear I will kick you in the nuts." I growl, "I want to know _all_ of what you know of me. Now."

"I er—" Bruce sighs, but then he just lets it out in a very rushed pace, "I'vewatchedyoueversinceyoubrokeoutofSprang."

I stare at him, my mouth gaping. Then, I slap him… Hard.

"You know, I didn't want to believe it, I really didn't because I wanted to have a good time," I growl, "but stalking?!" I try to slap him again, but Bruce grabs my wrist.

"Stop! Stop…" he says, "Just let me explain."

I yank my hand out of his grasp, "Explain what? That you're a sick—" I don't typically cuss, but this deserves it, "—bastard?!"

"You were a potential threat to my city." He says suddenly.

I stop, dumbfounded, "W-what?"

Bruce sighs, "Let's just say, Jim Gordon and I are pretty tight, and back then, he practically told me you were a psycho child… So when you escaped,…I figured I should keep an eye on you."

"Oh." I say, "But why? Why watch me?"

He pinches the bridge of his nose, and looks up at me, his face straight and serious, "You aren't the only one with a secret Selina."

I stare at him. Secret? Is he…? "What are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend. You know exactly what I'm talking about,…_Cat_. That is what they call you on the streets, right?"

I move my mouth silently like a fish.

"Uh huh." Bruce smirks, "Got your interest now, don't I?"

"You're—you're a hero? You, mister fancy Bruce Wayne, a hero?"

"Want proof?"

"Of course I want proof." I say.

Bruce waves his hand up towards the front of the car and we start moving. "Then that's where we're going." He says excitedly.

I turn away from him and rub my forehead. I really, really hope he's telling the truth about this, because if not, I've just agreed to be taken to some random place by a complete stranger…

"You don't trust me, do you?" he asks.

I turn back to him, "To be honest, no, I'm not sure if I do or don't."

"I know it's a lot to take in, but there's no need to worry. I promise, I'm not lying about any of this." He stares intently into my eyes, and even though I couldn't read his face before, the way he's staring now, just makes me feel like I should trust anything he says.

It doesn't take long until we slow down to go through a property gate—most likely to Bruce's house—and start making our way up the hill on a winding road. It takes a while for me to see it, but once the house comes into view, I gasp. Yeah, not just a house,…a manor. Wayne Manor.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" Bruce asks.

"It's incredible."

Alfred slows to a stop in the large, circular drive, but even though he comes around to open the door for us, I open it and step out before he even touches it. I see Bruce wave him off out of the corner of my eye as I stare around at the property, taking it all in. I've never seen anything this beautiful in my life.

"You actually live here?"

"Yes, just me and Alfred."

"Hmm. So tell me more about Alfred… Is he really _just_ a butler to you?"

He laughs lightly, "I see you're starting to figure things out." He smiles, "The answer is no. He is not,…but it's complicated."

I grin, "You can explain it later." I say as we head up the marble stairs.

"Thank you, it's a bit much to explain right now." He rests his hand on the handle, "You ready?"

I nod with a smile.

Bruce put his hand on a panel of the door and slides it over, revealing a hidden key pad behind it. He types in the code too fast for me to remember fully, but it starts with 814. He pulls down the handle and opens the door dramatically. The inside is just as breathtaking—if not more—than outside of the manor. Marble floors, golden banisters, extravagant crystal chandeliers, grand halls leading to many different rooms, and not one, but two grand arched stair cases leading to more beautiful rooms on the second and third floors.

"_Whoa…_" I mutter.

"So, do you want a tour of the manor? Or do you want to go see the secret lair?"

I smirk, and roll my eyes around, (my funny, over exaggerated pondering face) and then look back at Bruce, "Okay, I gotta admit, as astounding as your manor is, I really want to see your lair. I mean, if this is your house, then your lair must be pretty awesome."

Bruce chuckles, "I don't mean to brag, but it is pretty cool." He pulls out the handkerchief in his jacket pocket, "I only have one request before we go down." He says, unfolding the kerchief.

I look down at his hand and the way he's refolding it. I realize exactly what he's doing, "You want to blindfold me so I don't know the location of the secret entrance?"

He smirks, "Clever girl."

"I know the secret hero code." I say as he ties the kerchief over my eyes, "Although, this isn't entirely fair since you know probably know where my lair is…"

"Actually, I've never managed to figure that out. Your lair is just out of sight from the street cameras." He says, guiding me through the manor.

I grin blindly, "Good."

Suddenly we stop and I feel Bruce step away from me. I hear him shifting something, and then a small *SHFT* sound, like a sliding door. He has me walk forward again, and then I can feel the floor moving down. As soon as we stop moving, he pulls off the kerchief and get my first glimpse of the lair. I have to do a double take. We are in a cave. Literally, a cave. A large computer lays right in the center of it and large cases filled with assorted weapons and black suits with strange masks surround it.

"Welcome to the Batcave!" Bruce announces.

"B-batcave…?" I ask, "Nooooo… Nooooo. You're,…? No, you can't be…"

He smirks humbly.

"Seriously? You're Batman, _the_ Batman…?"

"The one and only."

I laugh, "Wow, I seriously never would've guessed. He's so much—I don't know—darker and more serious than I ever would have pictured you."

He continues to grin, "What can I say? Everyone has a dark side, mine just happens to be the best kind of dark side."

I laugh, "So,… you said before that you could help me become a better hero? What exactly do you have in mind?"

Bruce raises up a finger, "Ah, well for one, don't you think that suit of yours is a little ratty for your taste?"

I stare at him, almost insulted by his words, but he makes a point, I really do wish it was better… "Yeah? What do you have in mind?"

"Wait here." He says, holding both of his hands up, before turning and striding quickly to the case full of suits. In a moment, he's pulled one of the oddly shaped suits out and started walking back towards me. I wonder for a moment if he's handing me a batsuit, but I quickly realize the shape of this suit is much different than the others.

"Here, I had this designed and tailored specifically for you." He says, extending his arms to hand it to me.

Wow, he really is an odd man. I mean, talk about obsession… I'm not worried about him anymore, but if I wasn't so sure he wasn't stalking me in _that_ way, I'd be very creeped out right now.

I hold up the suit to examine it, running my hands over it to get the feel of it. The outer material was sort of a leathery texture and the material on the inside was softer than silk. I'm not sure what was woven in between the two materials, but it was durable enough to keep my claws from shredding it. Not sure if it would hold up against a knife or bullet, but it would hold up a lot better than my old suit. I notice as I run my hands over it that two pointy, triangular shapes stick out of the cowl. I have seen something similar to this on Bruce's suits, but the batsuit's points are much longer and thinner. No, these are not bat ears…they're _cat_ ears. A zipper runs down the front length of the torso of the suit, but instead of following a straight line down, the zipper starts from under a small flap—most likely to keep it zipped up when worn—on the right side of the neck, and makes almost an S shape snaking down from the neck, across and over the left breast, and then back across to the right where it ends on the hip. What an interesting design. When I move it again, I feel something flop across my hand from underneath. I turn it over quickly to find—of course—a tail.

I look back up at Bruce—who's staring at me, waiting for a reply—and laugh. He frowns at me, looking disappointed, "Do you not like it?" he asks.

"Like it? I love it!" I laugh, "It's just—" I honestly cannot stop laughing "It's sooooo much like me. I mean, the suit in and of itself practically taunts any opponent before anything can be said! I mean, it could not _be_ more perfect!"

He smirks, obviously relieved, "That's kind of why I designed it that way. So,… do you want to try it on?"

I glance down at the black suit and then back up at him, "Uh, why _wouldn't_ I?"

He chuckles, "Okay, you'll find a place to change through there." He says, pointing at hollow in the wall.

I walk into where he indicated, and what I see makes me come rushing back out, my eyes almost tearing with laughter.

"What?" he asks, his eyebrows scrunched.

"I—Oh," I crack up, "I now have full proof tha—" I snigger into my hand "—that Batman _does_ have a bathroom in—in the Batcave!"

Bruce rolls his eyes, his lips pursed in a smile, "Ha ha ha. Soooo funny. Now you can tell the whole world that Batman _poops_. Hilaaaarious."

I stagger back into the bathroom, still laughing my head off.

I slide off my red dress and heels, slip into the silky inside of the suit, pull the S zipper up and latch it in place under the flap on the neck, and put the cowls over my head—leaving my bangs hanging out. The suit is not entirely full body, leaving my hands, wrists, feet, and ankles bare, but s qo far however, the suit is incredible. As I step around to examine myself, I notice the tail moving with me, following my movements perfectly, and also just twitching randomly, exactly how a real cat might act. Clever, Bruce. Very clever. The cowl, which cover my ears entirely, should block out quite a bit of sound, but instead—obviously something Bruce put in the design—my hearing is actually heightened, allowing me to hear Bruce's light footsteps all the way from in here. I walk back out into the cave, fully prepared to show off for Bruce, but before I take even five steps, he's in front of me holding more black colored items in his arms.

"Sorry, forgot to give these to you before." He says, handing them to me, "They make up the rest of the suit."

I stare at him, surprised at how suddenly and silently he had appeared, but take the items and walk back into the bathroom with a simple "Okay."

The new items consist of a pair of long, high heeled boots; orange tinted, triangularly shaped goggles; long gloves—appearing to have many pockets within them; and a silver belt with many metal compartments, looking an awful lot like Batman's belt… I slip on the belt first and pop it together, but as soon as I do, I notice there's no release latch on it. Instead, five little slots—arraigned in an upside-down arch-like formation—are on the part of the belt that hits my hip. There's something I'm going to be asking Bruce about… I next zip up the boots. I expect to have no sense of balance in them, but not only do I have no problem standing in them, but as I walk, they seem to automatically adjust so I _won't_ fall flat on my face. Clever. I slip on the gloves and put the goggles on last, wondering why on earth would they be orange?

I walk back out into the cave—again—and strut towards Bruce in this new attire. He grins. "Perfect! Now, everything fits, right? No need for adjustment?"

I smile, and in my best 'Ace Ventura' impersonation, I say, "Like a glove."

Bruce bursts out laughing, "Oh my god, you like Jim Carrey?!"

I smirk, "Well, when those were about the only movies my sister and I _could_ watch, we got pretty hooked on them. Those and the few Looney Tunes VHSs we owned."

Bruce looks as if he wants to hug me, "You wouldn't believe how addicted I was to that kind of stuff when I was little! Now of course, that was never the stuff I watched with my parents, they thought it was a bit too vulgar for their tastes. No, instead, I watched them with one little boy I was close to. This was before that night at the theater of course…"

I scrunch my eyebrows, "Theater? What theater?"

"Don't you know what happened the night my parents were murdered?"

I shake my head guiltily.

"Ah, well, then I'll tell you my story…since I already know yours… Oh, and this will also explain how I'm so close to the Commissioner." he pauses, clearly gathering his thoughts, "When I was eight, my parents were murdered by a petty street thug. We had just come out of the monarch theater after watching an opera, when he came out of nowhere and aimed a gun at us, demanding to have my mother's pearl necklace. Being the man he was, my father refused and stood in front of us protectively. Sadly, that made the thief angry, and he…_shot_ my father where he stood. My mother was horrified, but with tears in her eyes, she bravely stood in front of me to protect me. When the thief realized my mother still wasn't going to give him the necklace, he shot her too. Jim Gordon—still a detective back then—was one of the officers who arrived on the scene and he was the nicest to me. He promised he would find the man that killed my parents and he would do everything he could. Jim really did his best, but with _this_ man, it soon became obvious he was a lot harder to find than Jim thought."

I stare at him, my eyes full of commiseration, "And so what about all this? What triggered your desire to fight crime?"

"Ah, it's a little difficult to blame it on one thing, I mean, a lot of events factored into it. But I think that it was mostly two events that caused it, one being the night at the theater, and the second being an event that happened a year and a half later. Alfred had taken me Park Row—aka Crime Alley—to visit the small monument that Gotham put together for my parents and to meet up with social worker Leslie Thompkins. Unfortunately, we never got to see her that night… we got caught right in the middle of a heist. A gang of men were attempting to rob a young woman and we walked right into it. One of the men aimed a gun at the two of us, telling us to get on our knees, but Alfred refused. Being a man trained in hand-to-hand combat from his time in the military, he stood up to the gang and tried to take them on. He was winning… until one of the men shot him in the thigh. The gang forced the woman and me to the ground beside Alfred, our hands behind our heads. After that, we didn't move from our crouched positions until the police and an ambulance arrived. The mix of those two events where what really made me realize that Gotham needs help, and soon. That was when I knew what I wanted to do with my life other than being some orphaned, rich kid that no one cares about… Alfred has been sending me around the world so I can attain intellectual and physical perfection by learning a variety of crime-fighting skills, including chemistry, criminology, forensics, martial arts, gymnastics, disguise, and escape artistry."

"And what of Alfred? You already confirmed he's not just your butler."

He sighs, running his fingers through his hair. This is obviously a difficult subject for him. I wonder why he's letting me push him so far.

"Well, after my parents were murdered, we were encountered by Leslie Thompkins who went over what would happen to me now that my parents were gone. It took a few days, but they finally found the will my parents wrote, leaving the entire state to me and legally stating that Alfred was to be my godfather should anything happen to them. Alfred became a true father figure to me, and believe it or not, under that civil composure is a truly caring man who loves me as much as my real father did."

"Wow… _Wish I had someone like that…_" I mutter the last part under my breath.

There's a pause of silence before either of us say anything, until I look down and remember the belt, "Hey, uh, how does this belt thing work?" I ask, tugging at where the ends are snapped together.

He smiles knowingly, "Have you tried sticking your claws into those slots?"

I blink. Ooooohhhhh…

I slide my fingers to line up with the slots and unsheathe my claws, letting each smoothly into a slot. With a tiny click, the belt unlocks.

"Wow. That's really ingenious." I say, snapping the belt together again.

"If you think that's cool, wait until you see how much fits into that belt." He smiles, "Okay, to unlock the compartments, do the same thing, but instead of all five claws, just use the middle three."

I do as instructed and hear another tiny click.

"Now, once unlocked those compartments can be opened at any time by pressing on one. To lock them again, just insert the same three claws."

I press on the compartment resting on my right hip and it opens, revealing various numbers of items that don't seem as if they should be able to fit inside it.

Noticing my expression, Bruce decides to give me more info on what the items are. "Inside the belt are some my own assorted creations, designed for you. There are Biterclaws—similar to my Batarangs—which are spinning paws with claw-like spikes; a mini grapple gun that can hold up to 4 tons; bolas; tracers; smoke pellets; line launcher; tranquilizer gun; laser; pellet grenades; Taser; stun pellets; EMP gun; and one of my newest creations, a personal tracker so if you or I are in trouble or need assistance, we can just activate it and it will show our location to each other."

"How on earth does it all fit in this tiny thing?" I ask, picking up the belt for emphasis.

"That, Selina, is a secret you will have to discover for yourself."

I glance over at the case of suits, "Tell me more about the bat—"

"Uh uh," he interrupts, "I'm not finished telling you how awesome your suit and equipment is."

"Well aren't you modest." I laugh.

He rolls his eyes, "Alright, moving on to your gloves and boots. Your boots have spring-action climbing pitons, so you will be able to scale walls, and like your gloves, have many more pockets and compartments for things like knives or other easy grab items. Your gloves have another feature too, but you won't see that until you put them on. As for your goggles, they have many features, night vision being one of the many." He pauses, as if he forgot say something, "Oh, and going back to the belt, if anyone either than you or I touches it, they will be electrocuted, preventing from any tampering should you leave the belt behind somewhere."

"You know Bruce, you really are a genius." I say, sliding the gloves onto my hands.

Bruce's cheeks redden for the second time today, "Thanks," He says, awkwardly scratching his neck, "but, you're pretty clever yourself."

I grin sheepishly and rub my finger on the bride of my nose. After a moment's pause, I think of the question that has been nagging to be asked ever since I heard of Batman. "Why did you choose a bat for your image?"

"Now there's the question I've been waiting for." He says, flashing his perfect teeth, "This may sound strange to you, but my biggest fear when I was younger was actually of bats—"

I stare at him, "Afraid of bats? Then why on earth would you choose to be the very thing you fear?"

"To instill my fear into others as they did to me. I'm not afraid of bats anymore by the way, I have a much bigger fear to worry about."

I don't question him further. I mean, what a way to become a hero. Just incredible. And here I thought my backstory was good… "So again, why do you want to train me?" I ask, changing the subject abruptly.

Bruce gives a light laugh, "Have you ever considered having a partner? Someone to work with out in the field?"

I furrow my brow, "Yeah, I guess? Wait, are you telling me that Batman,…wants a sidekick?"

"Well, not a sidekick…" he trails off.

I smirk, "I don't believe my ears. You, the great detective who prefers to work alone, you want me to work with you."

He glances around the room kind of awkwardly, "What can I say? You've got a lot of great potential Selina, and not to mention, two dark creatures of the night working together sounds like a good combination to me."

"Hmm, I guess I can work with that." I walk around the room, examining the walls, "But you sure you can handle my skills?"

Bruce chuckles, "Your skills, eh?"

I finally find what I'm looking for; a barely noticeable—but definitely not natural—line in the cave wall. I unsheathe my claws, but when I look down at my hand, I notice that it's not my claws coming out of the gloves, instead, razor-sharp claws—triggered by the movement of my actual claws—pop out of the gloves, making the suit all that much more wicked. I smirk, "Yes, my skills." with a short glance back at Bruce, I stick the razor-sharp claws into the imperfection in the wall, sliding them around until *SHNK* I slice across something metal. With a rumble, the wall slides up, revealing a long tunnel leading out of the cave. "Aha!" I say, turning back to him with a smug look on my face.

"How did you—?"

"Told you I had skills." I smirk.

He rolls his eyes, but it's obvious he's impressed, "Good job, but you do realize how much damage you just did to the mechanics, right?"

I whip around and see the sparking wiring where I sliced, "Oops…sorry…"

"I'm just messing with you, it's actually a fairly easy fix." He smiles.

I squint my eyes and purse my lips in a silly face, shaking my head at him.

"Okay, you've proven you are skilled in observing, but let's see how well you do in combat. Yes, I've seen you fight, but let's see you fight against someone with a little more skill." He taunts.

"You're on." I say confidently. I charge at him, hopefully tricking him into thinking I'm making a stupid move, but just before I reach him, I do a handspring, bringing my legs around from the side to collide into his. I think I've got him, but before I've completed my move, he manages to grab my legs, my momentum causing my upper body to swing around and I have to put my hands out to keep from hitting my head on the rock floor.

"Clever move. I'm impressed." He says, "But you aren't the first one to attempt it on me."

Using the floor to push off, I swing around and summersault away, pulling my legs out of Bruce's grasp as I do so.

"Impressive." He says.

"Aren't you worried about ripping your suit?" I ask it jokingly, but I'm being serious.

"Nah," he says calmly, "This isn't a really expensive suit anyways."

I laugh and stand up, making him pause in anticipation. Then, without a word, I jump forward, attempting to psyche him out.

"That the best you got?" he asks. He isn't challenging me, he asks it in the way Ted Grant used to; basically wanting to know if there was more to teach me.

"No, I have more tricks up my sleeve." I state, "But you're welcome to show off some of yours."

He chuckles, pulling off his jacket, "Honestly, I was hoping you would say that..."

Ha, so I was right about the way he said it. I wonder if _he_ ever worked with Grant...

"Well? Come on then." I tease.

In a blink, he tosses his jacket into the air at me—distracting me—and before I even realize it, he's behind me with his arm locked around my neck.

He pulls it off immediately—since that hold would have knocked me out in another two seconds—and steps away. "That's just trick number one." He says smugly.

"Okay, now there's a trick _I_ want to learn!"

"_And you say _you've_ got skills..._" he mutters.

"Hey!"

"I'm just kidding!" he laughs.

"Uh huh, suuuuuuurrrrrrre..." I say and stick my tongue out at him.

"Wanna use the punching bags?" he asks, indicating to the three hanging on the far side of the cave.

"Weelllll..." I say, doing my overdramatic thinking face, "Okay!"

We spend a while training and showing off what we know, until around eight o'clock, Bruce asks, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

I blink at him. "Dinner? I uh..." I realize how worried Bartus must be right now... "I—I shouldn't."

"Why not?" he asks, looking disappointed.

"I've been gone all day and my clan must be worried sick. I should be heading home."

"Oh. Okay..." Bruce says, his face sinking. He looks up as if to say more, but stops himself.

"What?" I ask, staring at him.

"Well, it's just that... D-does your _clan_ actually care about you?"

I frown, my eyes narrowing, "Whoa whoa whoa, buddy. Now that's crossing a line." I growl, "They are _my_ family!"

"Sorry!" he says quickly, "It's just that I've never had a good experience with other cats before. I mean, getting under my feet and trying to kill me doesn't exactly shine the best light on them. I'm just curious to whether a cat can actually _care_ about a human."

"Well I can understand how any _regular_ human would think that, and it's true that some cats really are heartless, but FYI, humans can be pretty heartless too!" I turn to leave, but Bruce grabs my shoulder.

"Selina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offe—"

I yank my arm out of his grasp, "You just don't get it do you, Bruce?!" I say, turning to face him, "Those cats are the _only_ family I have! At least _you've_ had Alfred, a _human_ to love you! Me? I've been forced to find family with animals..." I can't believe how emotional I'm being right now... "I lost my mom, I had a terrible father, and on top of all that, my sister ended up killing herself! The cats are the _only_ ones I have left!"

Bruce stares at me, stunned, and opens his mouth to interrupt, but I cut him off.

"No one has ever loved me since my mom died. NO ONE except my clan!"

"That not true, Selina!" he says suddenly.

"What are you talking about?" I frown, "There is no one in this _world_ who could possibly love me—"

"_I_ love you!" he shouts, catching me off guard.

"W-what?" I gape at him.

"I'm sorry I've pressured you into all of this so quickly, but it's not because I'm some love-desperate, girl-hungry stalker,…it's because I've watched you suffer in a hell hole for too long. I care about you, Selina, I've just waited too long to say something. I know I look like some crazy jerk trying too hard to get someone to love him, but you have to understand, that's not who I am at all."

I stare at him, speechless.

"And I'm sorry about what I said about your cats. I never meant for it to come out the way it did. I understand you now, and in all honesty, I can relate in a lot of ways. Yes, I do have Alfred to love me and act as my father, but unlike with you and your cats, I didn't find myself so willing to care about him at first. It just felt too foreign. Instead, I found my love in combat. So while you were forced to find love in animals, I became obsessed becoming a better fighter, completely ignoring the man who was caring for me the entire time. I had no place in criticizing your clan."

"I—I'm sorry for how I reacted Bruce… It's just—there's so much you're piling on me at the moment and I'm not sure I can handle it. I mean, love? That's a pretty strong word, and I—I'm sorry, Bruce, but I don't know if I feel that way..." I say and turn away. Love? He makes it sound like a fairy tale where the couple falls in love in a day—or less... I mean, who is he to expect me to feel that way about him, when I barely even know him? I trust him, I can honestly say that, but love him...?

"You don't have to feel that way about me." He says, interrupting my thoughts, "My point is, you act like no one cares about you, when there's really someone who does. Am I making any sense?"

"No? Yes? Maybe? I don't know... I'm really sorry, but it's just too much for me right now… I—we—let me have some time to think about all this, we can talk about this more later…" I turn and walk away down the tunnel leading out of the cave, leaving Bruce behind to stand there silently.

When I reach the end of the tunnel, I come to another door, but right as I near it, it slides up out of the way, opening up right onto a deserted road I've never seen before. Did Bruce open the door for me? Or does it have a sensor or something? Regardless, now I have to figure out my way back to Midtown from here. I guess I should follow the road, but I'm not sure if it'll lead me to Midtown or just into Uptown. Eh, I'll just follow it...

As I walk down the road, I hear something moving through the grass. I peek around quietly, only to find that it's a rat. But on closer inspection, I realize that one, it's not running away from me, and two, it has the same glassy eyes as the snake this morning... Weird. Why are there robot animals following me? I rip the rat's head off without a second thought and stuff the pieces into my glove; something I will examine later.

* * *

I've been walking for nearly 40 minutes now, and it appears that the road in fact _does_ lead to Uptown. Through the trees, I can _just_ see the city buildings from here. Suddenly, I stop, hearing something behind me. At first, I think it's another rat. But then I notice three figures moving the trees in the distance. Before they see me, I quickly run behind a tree and watch them from afar. As they get closer, I see that two of the figures are large men, and they're carrying the third figure—a young girl—in between them. Just because I would be dishonoring the hero code if I didn't, I follow closely behind them. They're dragging the girl towards a clearing, but them kidnapping a girl isn't what confuses me—yes, I'm obviously concerned and going to rescue her, but this kind of stuff is kinda normal for Gotham—no, what confuses me is the fact that they are too overgrown _men_ who could basically carry each other, and yet, they're _both_ carrying the girl between them as if she weighed as much as them. When they reach the clearing, I hold back and watch from behind a tree as they set the girl down and continue walking. I want to keep following them to see what exactly they are up to, by my instinct tells me to stay behind and help the girl.

As I approach her, I can see that she is a child of around 11. She is completely unconscious, but no harm appears to have been done to her body. Her hair is a lovely shade of auburn, and on her back is a backpack with a small teddy bear poking out of the top. I bend over to pick her up, when I feel warm breath on my neck. I realize my mistake too late as a hand clamps over my mouth while another pulls me tightly against a man's body; it was all a trap.

A second man ties my wrists together while the one holding me pulls a gag around my head.

"Well, Vince, look who we got here. It's the lil' ol' Cat." the thug holding me says. "The Boss will be so pleased!"

The one named Vince smirks, "Yeah, if you don't mess up this kidnap like you did on the last one, Charlie." he snorts.

"Shut up!" Charlie growls.

Vince goes over to the girl with the red hair, and throws her over his shoulder. As soon as Charlie loosens his grip to grab a nearby sack, I wriggle out of his arms and start to run, screaming as loud as I can through the gag. Vince shouts at Charlie, "Shut her up before she gets away and we get caught!"

Charlie grabs my arm and shoves a cloth over my nose and mouth until I black out.

* * *

_April 11th_

When I awake, I find myself tied to a steel chair in a dark room. Large crates line the walls, full of what looks like money. Looking down at a stray dollar, I realize that it is counterfeit.

I hear a sob behind me, I turn my head and see that the redheaded girl is tied to another chair behind me. She turns her head and stares into my eyes with teary bright green eyes.

"You're the Catwoman aren't you?!" She gasps. "Can't _you_ get us out of here?"

I glance down at my gloves. Well, DUH, with those metal claws Bruce gave me, I can cut through practically anything! "Yeah… here, just give me a sec and I'll have us both free."

I unsheathe my claws and begin slicing away the rope. It was difficult at first due to the angle, but once one hand is free, I'm able to cut the other ropes in seconds.

I slice the ropes around the girl's ankles and she springs to her feet.

"You are sooooo cool Catwoman! You and Batman are so amazing! I mean, taking on criminals, beating thugs, and all before the police can do a thing!"

I grin. No one has ever called me Catwoman before, usually all I get is a crude _'Cat'_… "What's your name, kid?" I ask.

"Barbara Gordon. Dad and Sarah call me Babs though."

Gordon… Is she who I think she is? "Does your dad happen to be Commissioner Gordon?"

Barbara nods. "Dad is always busy catching bad people… I just wish he would see how great you and Batman are."

I pat her shoulder, "Yeah, me too…" As I stand, I frown, wondering how this girl—who appears to worship me as her hero—could possibly be related to someone like Jim Gordon—who not only despises my thieving past, but also "vigilantes" like Bruce and I. Although, if I remember her story correctly, she isn't Jim's actual daughter and is actually her niece whom he adopted several years ago… still, it's a wonder, how after all this time, he hasn't rubbed off on her.

I walk over to the door and yank on the handle, but it won't budge, it's locked. I turn back to Barbara and put my fingers on my lips. She nods. I slide my claws down the bolt holding the door closed, slicing it in half and unlocking the door. The door swings open.

She smirks at the feat as I turn to grab her hand, "_Okay, stay right behind me_." I whisper.

I tip-toe down the hall with Barbara right behind me, clutching my hand. I flinch and Barbara grasps my hand tighter every time we come across a squeaky part of the floor.

My first instinct is to get out of this place as soon as possible, but as we round a corner and see a door open just a crack, light shining out of it and hearty voices echoing out of it, I decide to take a moment to eavesdrop. I glance back at Barbara again and put my finger up to my lips again, indicating to move forward.

We stop and I stand close to the crack.

"So why again did Maroni want us to kidnap the crazy cat lady?" A voice—whom I recognize as Charlie's—asks.

"Some mad-scientist or whatever wants her and is paying Maroni to do it. That's all I know." A second man's voice replies.

"All Maroni told me was that we were to use the Commissioner's daughter as bait, and once we had the Cat, he'd hand her over to the scientist." A third man adds.

"But why the Commissioner's daughter?" Vince asks.

"Are you really that stupid, Charlie?" a fourth man laughs, "Not only would Gordon's brat draw the Cat's attention more, but Maroni was planning on using her for ransom later! Can you imagine how much money we'd get for the spoiled brat?"

"You know, Charlie," Vince chuckles, "sometimes I wonder if you even know how to put on your shoes…"

"Shut up, Vince!"

I back away from the door as I hear someone land a punch.

Barbara looks up at me nervously.

"_It's going to be okay_." I whisper. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's true… I can probably manage to sneak us out of here, but if we get caught, I am not going to be able to put up a fight against five overgrown thugs. I've fought one of Maroni's thugs before, and if I remember correctly, I barely managed to take him down. And he was one of the smaller thugs…

"_Wait here_." I whisper back to Barbara, "_When I give the signal, run towards the exit as fast as you can_."

"_What's the signal?"_ Barbara asks.

I do a sort of flick with my head, then look back at her, _"Got it?"_

Barbara nods.

I walk a few steps towards the open door and pause. I turn to look at Barbara, expecting someone to already have their hands on her, but she is alone and fine. I turn back to the door and snap my fingers. My whip appears draped over my hand. Grasping the handle, I flick it towards the exit. It snaps around the doorknob and wraps around it a couple times. I do my little head flick and hear Barbara running up behind me. As soon as she runs past me, I yank the whip and the door flies open. I run to the exit just as the door to the room full of thugs bursts open.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BITCHES!" Vince screams, charging after us.

Right after I run out of the door, I kick it closed behind me, hitting the faces of some of Vince and two other thugs with a sickening crunch.

When I catch up to Barbara, I grab her and put her on my back, piggy-back style. She clings to me with all the strength she has. I keep running until I reach a clearing with several industrial buildings that seem very out of place. I flick the whip up to one of the eves of a building and swing up, landing safely on its roof. After setting Barbara down, she runs behind one of the air conditioning vents so she is out of view, as I hide myself behind another.

We stare at each other with wide eyes as we hear angry shouts from below. They don't seem to know we're up here though, because soon the voices disappear into the distance. Peaking around the corner inch by inch, I make sure the coast is clear before picking up Barbara again.

"What do we do now, Catwoman?" She asks as we swing back to the ground.

I set her down and tilt my head in thought, clapping my hands to make the whip disappear again.

"Bruce!" I shout, remembering the tracker he gave me.

Barbara looks puzzled, "What?"

"Uh, never mind… I have tracker that should notify Batman to come and get us."

Barbara smirks, "So you _do_ work with Batman!

"Huh? Oh,…yeah." I say. I slide my claws into the tool belt, unlocking it, and press each of the compartments to find the tracker. As the compartments open, I find myself still amazed at how so much can fit into them. After digging through each compartment—finding stranger and stranger tools with each one—I finally find something that looks awfully like one of those _Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!_ buttons. I press the button repeatedly and wait. I turn to Barbara, "You can go ahead and sit down; this may take a while."

Barbara sighs and sits down, I sit down beside her.

"Why don't you take off your mask?" she asks.

"I have to protect my identity. I can't let people know who I am."

"Why?"

"Let's just say I wasn't liked very much when I was your age."

"Oh… What's in your belt?"

"Just stuff to help me fight." I say, putting away the tracker and sealing the belt once more.

"Can I see your whip?" Barbara asks.

I snap my fingers and let her examine it, "How does it disappear and come back like that?" She asks, handing it back to me.

"I'm not really sure to be honest." I say, pondering it myself. "It was just a gift, so I don't know much about it."

"Oh." Barbara stares off, "Why did you become a superhero?"

I open my mouth to answer, when I realize, I barely know the reason myself. I sigh, "To be honest, I really don't have a major reason for turning to heroics. The way it really started out was just to learn how to defend myself, but I guess somewhere along the way I realized I could be using my skills to fight other problems. I mean, yeah, the things I've gone through had an effect on my decisions in the end, but there was never really just _one_ thing that made me put on the mask."

She looks at me and smiles, "Someday, I want to be just like you and Batman."

I glance at her, "Well kid, not that this city doesn't need more heroes, but I wouldn't exactly advise our line of work."

She frowned, "Why?"

"The world's a dangerous place full of dangerous people, and when you work the way I do, you have to face the worst of those people. I'm just not sure you're meant for that world."

Barbara sighs and rests her chin on her hand, "Fine."

I don't want to discourage the kid, but she's got her whole life ahead of her, she doesn't need to risk it by choosing to do what Bruce and I do.

We wait for about thirty minutes when I realize no one is coming. Either Bruce is ignoring me, or the alert didn't work.

Barbara pulls her knees against her chest, "Where's Batman?" she asks, her head resting on her arms.

"Dunno." I stare around the area, "Looks like I'm going to have to call for someone else."

She looks at me, "Who?"

"Cats."

She gives me a puzzled look.

"Oh, didn't you know?" I smile, "I can talk to cats."

She gets an excited little twinkle in her eyes, "Coooooool! I didn't know you could talk to cats, I only thought you dressed like one.

I chuckle, "Oh I do more than just dress like them." I wink. "Okay, you might wanna cover your ears; this is gonna be loud."

Barbara quickly puts her fingers in her ears.

I raise my head towards the sky, _"HELP!"_ I meow at the top of my lungs. _"HELP!"_ I yowl again, even louder than before.

Barbara pulls her fingers out of her ears, "That is so awesome!"

I smirk to myself. Who knew speaking to animals was considered _"awesome"_…

It doesn't take long before about a dozen cats come running at us from all directions, all meowing things like, _"Who are you?" "What's going on?" "Are you all right?" "Are you hurt?" "What's the matter?"_

"_Quiet!"_ I say to them. All the cats stop talking and stare up at me. _"I need your help."_

One gray cat steps forward out of the group, _"If I may ask, what is it you need help with?"_ it asks politely.

"_We are lost and we need to know how to get back to the Midtown area. Do any of you know how to get there?" _I reply

All of the cats say no, except one tiny white cat at the back of the group. _"I—I know."_ It says quietly.

"_Can you show us the way?"_

The cat nods, _"Follow me."_

The white cat walks towards me and goes between my legs. Barbara and I turn and walk behind him. Seeing that they weren't needed, the other cats stay behind and head back to where they came from.

The little white cat leads us back into the woods were we had come from, "Um, could we avoid that place?" I say, pointing in the distance to the building Maroni's thugs had held us in.

"_That place? Oh, of course… The people who stay there are scary."_ he says quietly.

We walk for in silence for a while, and barely breathe as we pass the house. When we are completely out of earshot from the building, I look down at the tiny cat, _"What's your name little one? Where're you from?"_

"_I'm—I'm Perciet." _he says timidly,_ "My brother and I live on the n-north-west side of Midtown."_

"_Great."_ I smile, _"I live around that area."_

Perciet nudges his head forward, _"L-let's go then… My brother will be mad if I don't get home soon."_

"_We'll go to your place first then."_

"_Okay."_ He mews.

As we walk, Barbara looks up at me, "Where are we going? What were you guys talking about?"

"Well, we are heading back into Midtown where Perciet—the little cat—lives. Then we're going back to my place."

Barbara grins, "I'm going to see where you live?" she asks.

"Mhm."

"Do you live with a lot of cats?"

"Yep."

"Yay! I love cats!... Will you take off your mask when we get there?"

I pause, "Maybe…"

Pretty soon we are out of the woods and on a road I kind of recognize.

"_Do you recognize this street?"_ Perciet asked.

"_Not really. I don't usually stray this far away from the north-west side."_ I say, puzzled. I know that street, I just can't remember why.

All of a sudden, I'm thrown into a flashback.


	4. Chapter III - The Flashback

Chapter III – The Flashback

Suddenly I am back in time, 7 years ago, just after I had escaped from Sprang Hall. I see my younger self running down the same street I had just stepped onto with Perciet, Barbara and the other cats. I am tugged behind 11 year-old Selina, forced to follow my own memory.

I turn around, still being tugged along, and see a 13 year-old Bruce Wayne sneaking along, not too far away from my younger self. Had I have been as aware with my senses back then as I am now, I would have taken more notice of him, but back then, my only priority was to run.

Not too far behind sneaking-Bruce is Ty Gern, so fuming mad, steam is practically coming out of his ears. 11 year-old Selina—I'm just going to call my younger self 'young Selina'—stops in the middle of the street and goes down a dark alleyway. I watch as young Selina finds spots for her hands in between the loose brick wall of the building, and scales the side of it. That was the first time I had ever scaled a wall.

Still fuming, Ty stops in the street where young Selina had stopped, and looks around. By the time Ty had gotten to the entrance of the Alleyway, young Selina was already at the top of the building and Ty was too stupid to think to look up.

"GRRRRAAAAAHHHH!" Ty shouts, giving up.

Meanwhile, young Selina and I are on the roof of the building, safe and sound. Young Selina is breathing hard and has to wait for her heart rate to go down again before climbing back down the building. Down below, I see Bruce at a distance, still watching young Selina, as she takes off again.

Young Selina keeps running down the street in a straight line, but stops short as a tiny gray, black, and white Taby kitten crosses her path—Bartus. I hadn't known it at the time—nor had I remembered 'til now—that that was the first time I had met Bartus. My younger self watches the kitten with curiosity and awe as it jumps easily onto one of the huge trash containers on the side of a building.

Meanwhile, Bruce is watching young Selina with a puzzled expression as she follows young Bartus down a different Alleyway. After a lot of twists and turns down a lot of different alleyways, both my younger self and I find ourselves at the entrance of the cats' original den. Young Bartus crawls into a hole just big enough for a large house cat. Young Selina wanders around the old den until she finds a larger way in. A large plate of rusting, abandoned steel lays over another side of the den. Moving the plate just slightly, young Selina slips into the den, finding a large, cavernous hole that opened up into the sealed up basement of an old building.

Young Bartus prances over to his mother—Helilah—in a cozy corner of the basement, and some of the other cats in the clan gather around young Selina, sizing her up. One of the cats, Tiberius, growled in displeasure and hissed at her, but a much larger cat, Kamir, growled back at him as if to say _"Shut up!"_ and then looks back at young Selina.

"_Who are you?"_ Kamir meows at her, but at that time, I didn't understand the cats' language, so my younger self just stands there, confused and intimidated by the cats.

Helilah speaks up, _"She's a human, Kamir. She can't understand you." _She sighs.

"_Then how did she know we were in here?" _Kamir asks, dumfounded and a little irritated, "_No human knows we are in here, much less, knows how to get in. Unless they work for_—"

"_Oh lay off it Kamir! She's just a child who's lost. We are going to let her stay."_ An older cat, Marinn, meows loudly as he walks into the lair. Kamir growls and goes back to his cushions.

Meanwhile, young Selina—very confused and not understanding a thing that is going on—backs slowly away from the cats and is about to sprint away, but Marinn jumps in front of her. He purrs and rubs against young Selina's legs, using a familiar feline signal to let her know she can stay.

Still confused, but glad none of the cats were growling at her, Selina follows Marinn deeper into the basement where an old, but still in good shape, mattress lay against the wall. Young Selina realizes that for the first time in years, she has a place to stay where at least one person appreciates and trusts her.

My younger self pulls the mattress to the floor with all the strength my 11 year-old body had, and lays down on top of it. A little while after laying there, Bartus and Helilah drag a blanket over to Selina and lay down on the mattress with her. As soon as my younger self closes her eyes, I awake.


	5. Chapter IV - Another Cat in the Clan

Chapter IV – Another Cat in the Clan

A distant voice is talking to me, getting closer and closer, "_Catwoman._ Catwoman. Catwoman! CATWOMAN!"

I awake on the ground with a jolt, _"What happened?"_ I meow, rubbing my eyes.

I open my eyes wider and see Barbara and Perciet standing over me, and for a split second, I swear I see my younger self out of the corner of my right eye, but when I look over there more closely, no one's there.

Barbara looks into my eyes with worry, and as I look at her, I notice small rips have appeared in her clothes that weren't there before, "Are you alright Catwoman?" she asks, with a twinge in her voice that almost sounds like fear.

"I guess." I say, sitting up. "What happened?" I ask again. I notice my claws are flexed and the rips in Barbara's shirt almost look like the shape of my claws.

"You were just standing there with us and then you just collapsed. But then you started thrashing around and shouting for someone named Bruce."

"Did I do that?" I ask, pointing at Barbara's shirt.

Barbara nods, "But I'm alright, I was far enough away that you only cut my shirt." She assures me.

I rub my eyes and stand up, "How long was I out?"

"Only for a minute or so, but you weren't responding to anything that I was doing. I shouted at you for a long time, but you just stayed on the ground, thrashing all around. What was going on?"

"I think I had a flashback." I say, still pretty confused myself.

"A flashback?" Barbara asks.

"I—I saw something from my past…but I'm not sure why I passed out…"

Barbara holds my hand, "Are you sure you're okay, Catwoman?" she asks, looking up at me with concern.

"Yes. I think so Barbara."

I look down at Perciet, who is staring back up at me, his eyes wide. _"Will you continue taking us to your place, Perciet?"_

"A-as long as you're up to it." He replies.

As we walk I see all the places from my flashback and notice how much everything had changed. The building that I'd scaled is completely crumbled, the trees that had surrounded the street are either dead, or dying, and the original den is caved in. I wince when I see that. For the longest time, that den had been the only _real_ home I had ever known, and now all that is left of it is memories. My vision starts to blacken at the edges again and I turn away.

Barbara slides her hand into mine again and looks up at me.

I look back down at her, biting back my emotion, and grin.

Soon we reach turn onto a street I know all too well, but instead of going east on the road to where the lair is, Perciet leads us west. Up ahead I can see a cardboard box with a few blankets inside sitting under the front steps of a dilapidated building. I put my hand over my mouth when I realize, that the box _is_ Perciet's house. Wandering around near the box is a cat that looks exactly the same as Perciet, but much larger. Perciet's brother notices the three of us coming his direction, and meets us half way, inspecting Barbara and I.

"_Who are they?"_ he asks Perciet in a low meow.

"We are friends of Perciet's. He has been guiding us back to Midtown."

"_How does she understand us?" _Perciet's brother asks, ignoring me and instead directing the question at Perciet.

Perciet walks timidly towards his brother, "Comilius, this is Catwoman and Barbara? Well, a-at least I think that's their names…"

I give Perciet a reassuring nod, "Yes that's correct. And Comilius, is it? I learned to speak to cats many years ago. I am no enemy; I have come to help you two."

"_Help with what?"_ Perciet and Comilius ask, Comilius's gruff voice covering Perciet's.

"I live with a small clan of homeless cats like yourself, and our lair is welcome to any who need it. I was hoping I could persuade the two of you to join the clan. I provide food, water, shelter, and warm beds for all the cats willing to join. Are you interested?"

Perciet's pupils grow wide with excitement and he looks up at his brother, _"Please Comilius? We—we would finally have a real place to stay!"_

Comilius doesn't look satisfied, "We will think about it… In the meantime, go off to your little lair and let us be." He says rudely.

I sigh. Well, at least I tried to give another cat a good home… "Well, come on Barbara, let's go back to my den."

The two of us are nearly 15 feet away, when we hear a cat's loud yowl. It's Perciet running up behind us, with an angry Comilius at his tail. _"Come back here Perciet!"_ Comilius roars.

"_NO! I want to go with them!"_ Perciet growls back. Perciet sprints faster to catch up with us. I pick up Perciet at my feet, just before Comilius comes up behind, aiming an angry, full clawed swat at him.

Comilius hisses and scratches at my leg, but I kick him away, "You better come with me right now Perciet, or I swear I will do to you what I did last time you didn't listen!" he growls furiously.

Barbara shrieks and moves away swiftly, and Perciet whimpers and tucks his head under my arm. _"Please don't make me go back!"_ he cries.

I pet Perciet's head and glare strongly down at Comilius, _"LEAVE Comilius! Perciet is no longer yours to control!" _

Comilius bites my leg fiercely, and I give him a swift kick in the butt. I walk away, _"Don't worry Perciet, Comilius can't hurt you anymore."_ I say gently, rubbing him under his chin.

Comilius sulks away, and Barbara walks back towards me nervously, "W-what was that about?"

"It would seem Perciet's brother is one of those cats you don't want to mess with…"

"I-is Perciet okay? Is your leg okay?"

I look down and examine my leg. There are a few scrape marks on the suit itself, but neither my leg nor the material is damaged too much. "My leg is fine, don't worry. And as for Perciet, he just needs some comforting for now." I hold him out towards Barbara, "Here, why don't you hold him?"

She takes him eagerly and lets out a sigh of relief and grins happily as Perciet nuzzles against her.

"Come on Barbara, let's go." I say, patting her back.

Barbara and I head back east down the street, back to the lair, but the closer we get to it, the more I know something's not right. Lotus and Boots are pacing in front of the entrance anxiously, and the wall nearest the entrance seems to have moved slightly.

I pick up the pace of my strides and arrive outside lair before Barbara does.

"Selina! Thank Bastet you're back!" Boots cries worryingly.

"_What happened?!"_ I ask, now noticing that not only were the metal sheets around the entrance several inches off, but there were bullets and bullet holes in the door.

"There was this weird looking man in a long white jacket and 3 thugs walking around outside the entrance, so Bartus went out to investigate, but something went wrong. Lotus and I heard guns going off, so we ran into the safe space. Then thugs came into the lair with the man and they were shouting a lot. Things were being tossed about, and we could hear the other cats screaming. Next thing we knew, the men were gone, the entire lair was a mess, and there was no hide, nor hair of anyone else in the clan! They're all gone!" Boots whimpered.

"_Oh my god..." _I say, putting my hand on my covered forehead,_ "Everyone's gone?!"_ I cry.

Lotus nods miserably.

"Catwoman, what's going on? Is everything alright?" Barbara asks, confused.

I shake my head grimly, "Barbara… My entire clan has been kidnapped."

"Your clan?" she asks.

"My cat family… All of them have been taken."

Barbara's eyes widen and she looks genuinely anxious, "What happened to them?!"

I rub my eyes, "I'm not sure, but I have a feeling I know _exactly_ what happened…" I glance at the damaged entryway, "Wait here."

I step inside the lair, and as I walk, I have to avoid pieces of rubble and scattered possessions on that have fallen on the floor. I walk into my room and am met with dismay; my bed has been thrown across the room, and my drawers have all been cleared. Everything is missing…, even my original Cat-suit.

I drop to the floor, remove my cowl, and sob into my fists. I feel like the world is collapsing on top of me. I knew it… After all I'd done to make this lair more discreet and hide my clan from Dorian and his horrid experiments, he's found me again.

"Catwoman?" Barbara asks, coming through the doorway. Barbara sees me crying, my makeup smeared all over my face, and rushes over, "Are you alright?" she asks, handing me a tissue from her backpack.

"No." I sob, "I thought this was over and that I had finally gotten away from him… but nope! He's ruining my life again!"

"Who is?" Barbara sits in front of me.

I wipe my eyes with the tissue, "There's this man, Dr. Emile Dorian, who does bad experiments on animals and people. He especially likes testing on cats…, and well, he apparently thinks I'm his perfect _specimen_ since I'm so close to felines… Anyways, a couple of years ago, he somehow found out about me and my ties to the cats. He must have been tracking me for months, and finally, one day, he came after me and my clan in the lair… He ransacked the place, taking all the cats with him. Bartus and I were the only ones who managed to escape… He followed me for a long time, until he finally disappeared. I figured somewhere along the way he gave up so I built this new lair and started a new clan. I thought he was out of my life forever…but it looks like he has managed to find me again."

Barbara looks into my unconcealed face and then does something I wasn't expecting; she hugs me. I am caught off guard at first, but slowly give into her small, but warm embrace.

"What's your real name Catwoman?"

I smile through the tear and makeup mess on my face. Oh well, why not…she's already seen my face, and it's not as if she can do much to me if she knows… "It's Selina, Selina Kyle."

Barbara looks back into my eyes, "Well, _Selina_, let's go get your cats back!"

I grin, but it fades, "You can't come with me Barbara."

Barbara frowns, "Why not?"

"I have to take you home. You've been gone all night and your mom and dad are probably worried sick about you. Don't you want to go home to your parents?"

Barbara nods solemnly, "Yeah, you're right… My dad is probably going crazy."

I stand up and wipe the rest of the wet makeup off of my face. "Don't be too sad about it, I'll figure things out." I say, patting Barbara on the back, "Plus, I'm taking you home on my motorcycle." I wink, pulling my cowl back on.

"Really?!" she asks excitedly.

"Absolutely!" I beam, "You didn't think we were going to walk all the way there, did you?"

Barbara grins.

"Lotus, Boots, I'm going to take Barbara home. You two stay hidden and take care of Perciet." I say as we walk back out of the ruined lair.

"_Yes Selina!"_ Lotus meows, sounding like a solider taking commands.

Perciet, rubs up against Boots and he looks down at Perciet, giving him a weird look.

Now, I forgot to mention this before, but the lair rests beneath what used to be a coffee shop in one of the streets densely packed with other buildings. The lair's entrance resides on the front of the building, but is covered by multiple damaged sheets of metal that blend into the other rubble left on the street. The coffee shop went up in flames about a year before my clan and I took up residence in the basement. While most of the building burned, the basement was unharmed and the first floor remained mostly intact. I figured the first floor wouldn't be inhabitable for the clan and me, but it does serve as a great garage, so that's where I decided put my motorcycle. And the first floor is exactly where I'm taking Barbara.

I take her around to the back of the building—rather than walking through the den again—and slide open the door that once served as the loading dock. There, my motorcycle rests, just begging to be ridden.

Barbara stares at the bike, "SO AWESOME!" she shouts.

I grin, trying to push back the hatred and anxiety that's bubbling in my gut. I pull the bike down the ramp and close the door. I hop on the bike and when Barbara gets on, I give her the helmet instead of putting it on myself.

"Ready?"

"Yeah!" she replies excitedly.

I accelerate out of the alleyway and plow down the street.

After a while, Barbara asks, "What are you going to do about that doctor guy who took your clan?" Barbara asks, as the now rising sun shines on the side of my face.

"Don't you worry about it Barbara. I'll figure things out."

"Are you going to ask Batman to help you?"

I bite my lip. After last night, I'm just hoping he'll still be willing to help me… "Maybe." I reply, "He—he and I _sorta_ work together." I lie.

"But he's Batman! He's gotta help you!" she says encouragingly.

Ha-ha, well if he refuses to help me, I can always make _that_ argument… "I guess you're right." I say, smiling to myself.

"Is he really as cool as everyone says? Does he really just _disappear_?"

I laugh. Jeez, with this kid around, I'd never be in a bad mood. "Yes… And yes."

"Coooooool!"

"How old did you say you were, Barbara?"

Barbara giggles, "I didn't, but I just turned 11 last week!"

"Did you have a good birthday? Get a lot of presents?"

"Loads! Dad and Sarah threw me a surprise party and it was awesome!"

I smirk, then pause, "Hey, Barbara?"

"Yeah, Selina?"

"Sarah's your mom, right?"

"Stepmom."

Ohhhhhhh, that explains it… Still kinda confusing though since technically that makes Sarah her adopted stepmom who is also her step-aunt… "So wait, if she's your stepmother, what happened to your mom?"

"Um, well…,"

Oops, didn't mean to touch a nerve… "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine. See, my mom and dad divorced about a year and a half ago, and Dad married Sarah about two months after. I really like Sarah…, but I'm just not sure I'm ready to call her _Mom_ yet."

"I gotcha." I don't question her, but Gordon married someone else two months after divorce? Sounds like someone was in love long before the divorce… Which is probably the reason they divorced… "Well, no one is forcing you to call her Mom, so don't worry about it. As long as she's nice and caring, that's all that matters.

"I guess you're right." Barbara sighs.

While it is getting light out, it's early enough that I don't really have to worry about being seen, but nonetheless, I stick more to the backstreets as we zoom south towards Downtown. It doesn't take long before we've passed beneath the shadow of Wayne Tower, and nearing closer and closer to the bridges that connect to Downtown. Once across, Barbara starts giving me small instructions like _'Take this exit.'_ or _'Turn left here.'_ leading me straight to her house. Meanwhile, she occasionally gives me little tidbits of info on certain areas, telling me a bit about their history. She's almost like a little encyclopedia of Downtown, Gotham.

"See that building there?" she asked at one point.

"Yeah?"

"Before he moved to England, the now great crime lord—Oswald Cobblepot—used to run his business in that building. According to my dad's records, he killed a loooot of people in it…"

I gave Barbara a quick glance over my shoulder, and thought 'How much does this kid know exactly? Not that it's a bad thing, she could prove very valuable with all that info, but still, she's ELEVEN! This kid must be a fricking genius! Not only did she manage to read his police files, but she remembers them!'

"How much of your father's files have you read exactly?" I asked.

"About a fourth so far. I still have a lot to read though, especially since a lot of them have a lot of stuff in them."

I smirked.

Now here we are, not too far from Barbara's house—from what she says—and our conversation has changed back to talking about hero stuff.

"Have you heard about that _Sand _guy in New York city?"

"I have not, but it's good to know how many more of us there are out there, saving our cities."

"I wish my dad saw it that way…" she sighs.

"What do you mean?"

"He thinks you guys are bad because you don't obey the law. Says you're _vigilantes_… but I don't agree with him. You guys are superheroes! You save people!"

"I know it's hard with him disliking somethings you agree with, but you gotta look at it from his perspective. He believes solely in the law, and well, many of us heroes don't exactly obey it. It isn't exactly legal to take the law into your own hands."

"I know, but—"

"Barbara, you don't have to fight him on this. He believes in one thing, you believe in something else. Not that I agree with him, but you shouldn't worry about what he thinks of—"

Barbara interrupts me suddenly by shouting, "Wait! This is our turn! Turn right!"

Quickly—and quite dangerously at that—I make a sharp turn onto a street lined with apartment buildings. Most are just dirty looking, others completely falling apart, but there are a few that look nearly brand new.

"That's it up ahead." She says, indicating the cleanest looking apartment building on the street.

I don't pick up our conversation again just because I would sound annoying if I did. I park out front, hop off, then help Barbara down. We walk up to the door, and I try pulling it, but it's locked.

"You have to ring the apartment we live to get in." Barbara explains, typing 524 on the com panel I only just noticed.

I'm about to say something when a woman's voice crackles through the speaker, "Yes?".

"Sarah?" Barbara says into the mic, "It's Barbara."

We hear a cry from the other end, "Barbara! Where on earth have you been?! Your father and I have been worried sick!"

"I—I'll explain when I get up there, it's kinda a long story."

"Your father has been out all night looking for you, you better have a good explanation!" Barbara's stepmother sounds angry, but it's the kind of anger that comes with extreme concern.

The door buzzes and I pull it open with ease. Barbara follows in quietly behind me.

"You realize that the truth about where you were will petrify your parents, right?" I ask as we run up the stairs.

"Yeah, but maybe the fact that _you_ saved me will be enough to show my dad that you guys really are good."

I severely doubt it, but I'm not gonna tell Barbara that.

It's a bit of a hike up the five flights of stairs, but neither Barbara, nor I are exhausted when we reach the top. I had suggested we take the elevator, but Barbara said she was too full of energy to stand still. We both rush down the hall to 524 and I stand on Barbara's left as she knocks. There's a rustle from the other side, and in seconds, a woman comes rushing out of the door and embraces Barbara tightly. It's a happy moment…, until she notices me. Sarah stands up and though at first she looks surprised and slightly scared, her expression quickly turns to suspicion.

"Barbara…?" she says in a low tone.

Barbara backs up slightly and glances at me.

"Barbara, why is the _Cat_ with you?"

I speak up, "Um, about that… We should talk about this inside."

Sarah raises her eyebrows, but turns and walks into the apartment, indicating for us to follow.

Barbara catches my eye and mouths, _"She used to work with Dad." _as we follow her stepmom inside. Well that explains why Sarah appears to agree with the Commissioner…

Barbara closes the door behind us.

"So, as I asked before, Barbara, why have you brought a vigilante with you?"

There we go…

"She saved my life, Sarah." Barbara says pointedly.

Sarah raises her eyebrows again, "What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters, we were both kidnapped." I interject.

Sarah laughs, thinking I'm joking, but then she realizes, "Wait, you're serious?"

Barbara and I both nod.

Sarah looks terrified. Just as I predicted.

"B-Babs, how on earth… Who—who kidnapped you?"

Barbara starts to say _'I don't remember.'_, but I interject again, "A group of Maroni's men. He was paid by someone else to get me, and he used Barbara as bait."

Sarah looks as if she's about to faint, "You can't be serious." She says, her eyes flashing back and forth between Barbara and me.

"She's telling the truth, Sarah. We both heard them talking."

Sarah put a hand to her forehead, "_Your father is going to go insane…_" she mutters.

I have a feeling he's going to go more than insane…

"How on earth did you both escape?"

I let Barbara answer this one, "Well, like I said, Catwoman saved us both. We were locked in a room and she picked the lock. After we got out, we overheard those guys talking. Then we had to run."

"But how did you find your way back?"

Barbara glances at me, "Catwoman called Batman for help." She says, seeming to know exactly what to say. Well, she's not lying, she's just leaving out some info…which is a good thing.

Sarah raises her left eyebrow and looks at me, "So you two work together then?"

I rock my hand back and forth in a 'meh' gesture.

"I see… Well, um, tell him I said thank you, and um, don't mention this to Jim, but—"

Suddenly, Sarah wraps her arms around me in a hug, "Thank you so so much for saving our Babs!" she cries.

Well _there's_ something I wasn't expecting… I awkwardly pat Sarah on the back.

Barbara catches my eye and we share a grin.

Sarah pushes herself back, "Well, I'm not sure Jim will ever agree with me on this, but you're not half-bad, Catwoman. You may have just changed my mind about you and Batman."

I smile. I certainly agree with her on what she said about the Commissioner…

Sarah glances at the clock, "Oh, you'd better get out of here quick, Jim will be back any minute and regardless whether you saved Babs or not, he will not like you being here."

I nod, "Point taken." I head for the door, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Sarah, and try to stay out of trouble, Barbara!" I wink at her before rushing out the door, down the hall, and down the stairs. I figure I'm home free, but just as my foot touches the bottom step, Commissioner Gordon appears on the other side of the glass door. His calm expression immediately turns to fury and I bolt back up the stairs. Getting him to run after me will give me enough time to leap out of the window and escape. Jumping from the second floor will hurt a bit, but the Commissioner wouldn't dare jump out after me, and I'd rather have a twisted ankle than what he'd do to me.

"Get back here, you feline fiend!" he shouts, chasing me up the stairs.

I jump out of the window.

"I said get back here damnit!" he yells after me, "One of these days, I swear I'll get you and Batman both!"

I turn and look back at him, "Don't you realize we're only trying to help?!"

I hop onto my bike and zoom off as quickly as possible.

Oh, something I forgot to mention—though you've probably already noticed—is that while I don't steal stuff from people anymore, I do scavenge for stuff at the dump. It's amazing the number of still-working items get thrown out. As proof of this, I have a nearly brand-new GPS strapped to my Harley, something I found at the dump just last week. The reason I bring this is up is 1, so I don't have to explain it later, and 2, because I'm going to use the GPS right now.

I plug in the address of Wayne Manor. Bruce Wayne, here I come.

I knock on the huge doors of Wayne Manor, and wait.

The door opens and I am greeted by Alfred, "Ah, Lady Selina, I suppose you've returned to see Master Bruce?"

"Yes, and it's quite urgent actually. Can I come in?"

"Of course!" he says civilly, but cheerfully nonetheless, "I shall go get Master Bruce, you just get comfortable in the family room." He leads me inside.

I smile at Alfred and nod, but once inside the family room, I don't get comfortable. The realization of what has happen sets in once more and I start pacing back and forth as I wait.

"Selina!" Bruce announces, walking into the room at last, "I didn't expect to see you so soon…or so early. It's only 8:30 you know."

"Yeah, well, I'd be asleep too if it weren't for what happened last night…" I say flatly.

"Selina, what's wrong? I mean, I know things didn't end too well for us last night, but—"

I try not to glare at him, "This has nothing to do with what you said last night!" I don't mean to shout at him, but now that Barbara is back home, all my fury has decided to unleash itself, and unfortunately Bruce is in the line of fire…

Bruce looks slightly hurt, but it doesn't show in what he says next, "What happened then?" he asks calmly.

I pull down my cowl, "I got kidnapped last night."

Bruce's eyes widen, "Wait, what?! By whom?" his words are full of worry and concern. Of course.

"I was captured by some of Maroni's men, but he was actually paid by someone else to get me."

Bruce's eyebrows have shot up so far, that they almost disappear into his hair, "Who?"

"There's only one person who could possibly want me that badly… Emile Dorian."

This puzzles Bruce, "Dorian? That crazy scientist? I caught him testing on cats and monkeys a couple years back…What would he want with you?"

"He thinks I'm an ideal _specimen_."

"What?"

"He doesn't like just any animal, Bruce. He likes cats..., and humans. He especially likes blending humans and animals. And since I have such a close relationship to cats, he figures I'd be his perfect test subject to blend."

"That's sick!"

"That's not all. Those cats you caught him testing on? They were the clan I used to live with…before he stole them from me… He couldn't have me, so instead, he took my family. And he's done it again."

"What do you mean?"

"He must've known how easily I'd escape Maroni's men, so as backup, he went and broke into my den and stole my clan again."

"That's horrible! But wait, how did Maroni's men get a hold of you in the first place?"

I sigh, "They used bait."

Bruce looks puzzled again.

"They used the Commissioner's daughter as bait."

Bruce's eyebrows shoot up into his hairline again, "WHAT?!"

"Not long after I left, two men—Maroni's—came out of the forest carrying her between them. I don't regret finding her, but I just wish I had seen it was a trap sooner…"

"Wait. Wait. Hold up. If you were kidnapped, and you had your suit on, why on earth didn't you signal me for help?"

I purse my lips. "I did. So either you weren't paying attention, or it didn't work." I say, still trying not to glare.

"Give it to me. I'll fix it later." He says, "And don't look at me like that!"

I force my face to relax and pull the tracker out of my belt and hand it to Bruce.

"You can't hold a grudge forever, Selina."

I look at the floor, "_Sorry._" I say quietly. I don't want to be mean, I don't want to hold a grudge, I don't even want to be angry with him…, it's just, I don't know.

"I will help you take care of Dorian, Selina, but your attitude has got to change. I'm not going to work with you if you keep treating me like the bad guy."

"Look, Bruce, I'm sorry about how I reacted last night. It was really rude of me to walk out on you like that." I look up into his eyes, "I promise to treat you more fairly from now on…, just please, could you try not springing stuff like that on me so suddenly?" I finish with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, sorry about that." He laughs lightly.

Great, another awkward moment…

"You left your dress and shoes here last night by the way." He adds.

I force a laugh, "I thought I was forgetting something."

"Do you want me to go get them?"

"Oh, um, sure, I guess."

Bruce looks at me funny, "You realize we can't do anything about Dorian until tonight, right?"

UUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! Of course I know! Why can't it be nighttime already?! "Yeah, I know." I say calmly.

"Well, would you like to hang out here in the meantime?"

"Sure, but um, I have three terrified cats back at the den—which, by the way, is trashed—so, um, could we go get them?"

"Of course! No problem."

I purse my lips in a tight smile. Well, at least I can keep them safe…

It's been about four and a half hours since I arrived at Wayne Manor this morning. After getting Boots, Lotus, and Perciet from my den, Alfred made us a simple breakfast of eggs and bacon. When we finished, Bruce asked if he could read some of his books to me in the living room, and because I had nothing better to do, I said yes. He started out reading poetry by some guy called _Edgar Allenned Pope_…or was is _Poe_? But that kind of bored me, so instead he started reading a book called _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, which I have been thoroughly enjoying. We're finishing up chapter 21 now.

"_Colonel Sherburn he tossed his pistol on to the ground,_

_and turned around on his heels and walked off. _

_They took Boggs to a little drug store, the crowd pressing_

_around just the same, and the whole town following, and_

_I rushed and got a good place at the window, where I was_

_close to him and could see in. They laid him on the floor_

_and put one large Bible under his head, and opened another_

_one and spread it on his breast; but they tore open his shirt_

_first, and I seen where one of the bullets went in. He made_

_about a dozen long gasps, his breast lifting the Bible up_

_when he drawed in his breath, and letting it down again_

_when he breathed it out - and after that he laid still; he was_

_dead. Then they pulled his daughter away from him, _

_screaming and crying, and took her off. She was about_

_sixteen, and very sweet and gentle looking, but awful _

_pale and scared. _

_Well, pretty soon the whole town was there, squirming_

_and scrouging and pushing and shoving to get at the _

_window and have a look, but people that had the places_

_wouldn't give them up, and folks behind them was saying_

_all the time, "Say, now, you've looked enough, you fellows;_

'_tain't right and 'tain't fair for you to stay thar all the time,_

_and never give nobody a chance; other folks has their rights_

_as well as you."_

_There was considerable jawing back, so I slid out, thinking_

_maybe there was going to be trouble. The streets was full, _

_and everybody was excited. Everybody that seen the shooting _

_was telling how it happened, and there was a big crowd packed _

_around each one of these fellows, stretching their necks and_

_listening. One long, lanky man, with long hair and a big white _

_fur stovepipe hat on the back of his head, and a crooked-handled_

_cane, marked out the places on the ground where Boggs stood_

_and where Sherburn stood, and the people following him around _

_from one place to t'other and watching everything he done, and_

_bobbing their heads to show they understood, and stooping a little_

_and resting their hands on their thighs to watch him mark the places_

_on the ground with his cane; and then he stood up straight and stiff_

_where Sherburn had stood, frowning and having his hat-brim down_

_over his eyes, and sung out, "Boggs!" and then fetched his cane_

_down slow to a level, and says "Bang!" staggered backwards,_

_says "Bang!" again, and fell down flat on his back. The people that_

_had seen the thing said he done it perfect; said it was just exactly_

_the way it all happened. Then as much as a dozen people got out_

_their bottles and treated him. _

_Well, by and by somebody said Sherburn ought to be lynched._

_In about a minute everybody was saying it; so away they went,_

_mad and yelling, and snatching down every clothes-line they_

_come to to do the hanging with._" Bruce finishes the chapter right as Alfred walks into the room.

"Lunch is ready, sir." Alfred says. I suddenly realize that I've been lying against Bruce the entire time he's been reading, and I push myself upright.

"Thank you Alfred." Bruce smiles, closing the book and setting it aside.

Lying on Bruce as I listen to him read? A-am I getting attached to him?

Bruce stands up. "You coming, Selina?" he asks, looking back at me—I'm still sitting on the couch.

"Yeah." I say and stand up.

Sitting on the table in the kitchen is a three-tiered tray filled with many quarter sandwiches, and two bowls filled with assorted chips. I smirk; the chips don't quite fit the setting.

The closer I get to the table, the more I start to realize that one of the sandwich types is smoked salmon. Yes! As I sit down, I have to resist the urge to eat all of those sandwiches up in one go…

"I noticed you were getting a little comfortable as I was reading." Bruce says, breaking my focus on the sandwiches, "Are you tired?"

"What? Oh, uh, yeah. Just a little I guess." I actually am quite exhausted. Maybe that's why I was laying on him? And not because I like him…? SHUT UP, SELINA!

I know that Dorian's probably the only thing on your mind right now, but it wouldn't hurt to rest up a bit before we go out tonight."

I stare at him. So yeah, I may be tired, but after all that's happened, I won't be sleeping until Dorian is behind bars and I have my family back.

"No, I'm good." I say, munching on a handful of potato chips.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Bruce shrugs and grabs an egg salad sandwich.

Finally, I myself grab a sandwich—smoked salmon of course—and stuff it into my mouth. I don't know why I waited for Bruce to eat first… The sandwich is already gone by the way.

Bruce raises an eyebrow at me—obviously for how quickly I ate the sandwich—but doesn't say anything about it. I wouldn't have cared if he said anything any; I'm hungry.

After a while, Bruce pauses and asks, "So, what're you gonna do once you get your clan back?"

I hesitate. What _am_ I going to do? I have no lair to go back to… "I'm not sure actually."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here if you need."

That's kind… "Thanks."

When Bruce isn't looking, I grab four of the smoked salmon sandwiches and fold them up in my napkin—one for Boots, one for Lotus, one for Perciet, and one extra for me. FYI, they've been upstairs napping this whole time.

I stand up, napkin in hand.

"Where are you going off to with those sandwiches?" Bruce asks slyly. He knows…

Well, I don't know why I was sneaking them in the first place…, "Food for my cats."

Bruce smiles, "Ah. Why didn't you just say so instead of stuffing them into the napkin?"

I shrug.

"Well, it's not like you need my permission or anything, so, go on then."

I walk out, nibbling on the extra sandwich.

Even though I've been around the place several times today, the extravagancy of the manor just leaves me in awe. I can't help but stare around in wonder—for the fifth time today—as I walk up the enormous marble stair to the second floor. Honestly, I could get lost in this place for days it's so big. It must get pretty lonely for Bruce and Alfred here… I open a door and smile as three cats swarm to me.

"_Selina!"_ Lotus purrs, swirling around my leg.

"_Hello guys."_ I grin, _"I've got some food for you,"_ I walk into the room and place the sandwiches on a desk.

"_Thank you Selina!"_ they mew, hopping up to find what I've left for them.

I run my hands down their backs and rub under their chins affectionately. _"Enjoy!" _I say, leaving them to eat.

As I wander back into the hall, still gazing around, I realize I haven't been to the third floor yet… I glance back at the rail overlooking the front hall downstairs, then towards the second set of stairs leading to the floor above, then back at the rail again… Hmmmm, I guess a little exploring can't hurt. Without another thought, I dash to the stairs and start heading up, and to my amazement, the third floor is—if it's even possible—more incredible than the floors below. This must be where the main members of the family would have slept I guess, and the second floor was for guests? Hm, anyways, regardless of the reason why, the third floor was more beautifully decorated than any other spot in the house…although, the library on the main floor nearly trumps it. Not only are the ceilings just as huge as the first two floors, but crystal chandeliers that sparkle like diamonds are spaced perfectly along the halls, and the sunlight shining in causes the crystals to create tiny rainbows all over the doors. The woodwork around each door, and all of the doors themselves, is carved to perfection in amazing designs that are unique to every room. Mind you, the rooms on the first and second floors are carved too, but not quite as intricate as these.

I walk down the halls in awe, but stop in front of a door when I notice it's open just a crack. I glance around before gently pushing it open further. Unlike the rest of the manor, the room has a much more modern theme to it. The walls were grey and the furniture is all black and silver with a much sharper feel than any other furniture in the other rooms. A dark cabinet is open, revealing a large number of expensive suits. There are a number of more casual outfits too, but they are immensely outweighed by the suits. The bed on the opposite end of the room is unkempt and it's obvious that the person who slept in it made no effort to make it. From the moment I stepped in, I knew it was Bruce's room, and I know I shouldn't be invading in his personal space like this, but I can't help being curious. I wander towards his desk, which is covered with paperwork. I promise myself not to snoop too much, but I do shuffle through a couple papers on top, only to find they're all on two residents of Arkham Asylum that I've never heard of before (although, they do sound a bit familiar now that I think about it); Johnathan Crane and Edward Nigma. Villains I'm guessing? Intrigued, I move a couple more papers. Here we go…

Crane, Johnathan AKA Scarecrow:

Arrested for testing hallucination inducing gasses known as 'Fear Toxin' on civilians. Known for wearing a gruesome looking scarecrow mask and smoke bombs filled his Fear Toxin.

That's all I really need from that…

Nigma, Edward AKA The Riddler:

Arrested for committing a series of thefts, kidnappings, and other crimes, all linked to a puzzle he was trying to get the city—in particular, the infamous Batman—to solve.

Scarecrow and Riddle… I actually do remember hearing about the Bat taking care of them a while back, but I never found out who their real identities were. Now I do… Okay, I should probably stop snooping now.

I lay the papers back down and rush out of Bruce's room, just in time too, because as soon I get seven steps down the hall, Bruce materializes in front of me.

"Ah, there you are," he smiles, "Doing a little exploring I see?"

Jeez, I hope he didn't see me in his room…

I try to hide the guilty look on my face as much as possible, "Yup."

"Have you discovered the dumbwaiter yet?"

"No, why?"

He grins, "Follow me."


	6. Chapter V - Doctor Hunting

_Chapter V – Doctor Hunting_

"Time to suit up I guess." Bruce says gloomily, glancing at the quickly setting sun.

"Aww." I sigh, pushing myself off of the leather couch. I like spying on people as much as the next hero, but I was thoroughly enjoying spending the whole day with Bruce more.

Bruce pulls me onto my feet, "Come on, it'll be fun." He winks, slapping my shoulder lightly. "And, if we get out of there okay, maybe I'll take us out for a ride in the Batwing."

Bruce and I pull on our suits and pack in as many weapons as we can, reviewing what each one does as we go.

"EMP gun, what does it do?" Bruce asks quickly, handing it to me.

"Disables any and all electrical equipment." I answer, putting it back into my belt.

Bruce picks up a hand full of stun pellets, "What are these and what do they do?"

I take them from the palm of his hand, "Stun pellets, and they emit bright light and deafening sound to completely blind and deafen enemies."

"Good job! Now," Bruce picks up a new tool he hadn't given me before, "This is a Rebreather, it will allow you to breath underwater or survive in areas with low oxygen."

I put it into my belt, "Anything else?"

"Well, I have other tools and weapons than that, but you won't be needing them."

"Alright then, are we ready to go?"

"Actually, I have one more thing to give you." Bruce picks up a container full of what appear to be metal tags, "Here, these are trackers for your clan. They clip onto the insides of their ears painlessly, and are very discreet. I designed them just for your cats."

"When, and how did you have time to make these?"

"I actually designed them while you were getting changed this morning. The Bat computer has been working on them all day." Bruce says casually, as if that wasn't a huge favor.

"You really did that for me?" I ask, stunned that a guy I barely know would go through all that trouble just for a clan of cats and a girl that he had only really known for a couple of days.

"Yeah, I really did." Bruce smirks, "They are already to go whenever you are. You can program them to each individual cat by using your goggles. Which can be voice activated by the way."

"Thanks Bruce. You are really sweet."

Bruce's smile fades into a frown, "Thanks. But enough of the sappy stuff, we need to get serious and get going."

My smile fades too, "Yeah, let's go."

I make sure my gear is secure, then hop on my new bike. Bruce does the same.

"Ready?" He asks, revving his bike. A separate rock panel opens up behind the vehicles, and Bruce spins his bike around to face it.

I start up my bike and face the exit too. "Ready." I nod reassuringly.

Bruce and I speed down the streets of Downtown Gotham, weaving in and out of the few cars that are on the road. Surprisingly, there's not a police officer in site about to pull us over. Which as concerning as that is for the safety of the rest of the city, at the moment it's helping us greatly.

"You okay Selina?" Bruce radios into the headset of my helmet, looking over at me.

I press a button on my helmet near my jaw, "Doing just fine Bruce."

"Alright, just checking. Get ready to take this next exit."

Bruce mergers into my lane and we both move onto the exit ramp.

"In two hundred yards, turn right." My GPS commands through my headset. So, Bruce and I take a left.

"Your destination is ahead on the right." The GPS says. A flag on the map indicates to a large, abandoned laboratory. The faded letters of Luther Corp are on an outdated sign in front of it.

Bruce turns suddenly down a different road instead of going straight towards the lab, and I follow.

We hide the bikes in a pitch black alley and creep towards the abandoned building.

When reach the side of the building, Bruce pulls out his grappling gun and nods at me to do the same. I shake my head, "_I prefer to climb._" I whisper, releasing my claws and triggering the spring-actioned climbing pistons in my boots. Bruce shrugs and aims his gun.

I jump up the wall almost like a cheetah would run across the plains, something I could never get close to accomplishing with my old suit. I even mange to make it onto the roof faster than Bruce and he wasn't taking his time at all.

"_Okay, I didn't know the pistons worked _that_ well!_" Bruce exclaims with wide eyes when he reaches the top.

I look down at my boots, where small climbing spokes stuck out of the tips like claws, "I_ didn't even know I could do that!_" I whisper back.

Bruce shrugs, amazed even by his own creation, "_Come on._" He beckons, creeping towards the glass skylights.

I carefully peek through the glass, and I see what nearly makes me jump through the glass. Dorian has a furiously struggling Bartus tethered to a table and hooked up to a huge machine. I use my cat-like hearing to eavesdrop on what he's saying.

"Sooo. You're Selina's favorite cat? Well, let's just see how she reacts when I start testing on you!" Dorian sneers up at us; he already knew we were here!

Even under his mask, I can tell Bruce is freaked out, "How did Dorian know we were going to be up here?!" he asks, bewildered.

I shake my head, confused, and turn back to what is going on down below. Dorian picks up a container filled with a strange, green substance and faces Bartus, "This is a mixture of meteor rock that was discovered in Smallville Kansas. It causes strange things to happen to living organisms when mixed with something powerful."

"Meteor rock…" Bruce ponders, then he looks afraid as realization hits him, "That's Kryptonite!"

I look back and forth between what's happening below and Bruce's face, "Krypto-what?" I ask worriedly.

"Something very dangerous, I'll explain later. We have to get down there!"

Dorian sneers up at us again, then turns to fill a needle with the Krypto—thing. While his back is still turned, Bruce pulls out a can of explosive gel and sprays it onto the plexiglass, "Step back." He says, pushing me behind him as he backs up.

Bruce ignites the gel and the plexiglass rains down upon Dorian. "Gaaaaarr!" he shouts when I land on top of him.

"Destroy the Kryptonite mixture!" Bruce shouts, releasing some of the cats from cages.

I give Dorian a good stomp in the face and he's out cold. I throw the canisters of the Krypto-stuff to the nearly empty area of the lab, along with a couple pellet grenades. It causes a huge explosion in the far side of the lab, destroying some of the other substances Dorian had created and left on shelves.

A couple more explosions start erupting from the damage, "SELINA, WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Bruce shouts over the noise.

"I'M NOT REALLY SURE!" I scream back, heading to the other cages to release some other captured cats.

Another huge explosion blows up a section of the wall, "WE SHOULD PROBABLY GET OUT OF HERE!" Bruce says loudly, the rest of the cats jumping down from the cages.

"WHAT ABOUT DORIAN?" I shout.

"LEAVE HIM! JUST GET THE CATS'S AND GO!"

I pick up Bartus and run, _"WE HAVE TO GO!"_ I shout to all the cats, and they follow quickly behind me.

Bruce, the cats and I get out just in time. We watch in horror as the abandoned building goes up in flames, explosions blowing out the walls.

We stand there for a moment, frozen with realization at what had happened, but then Bruce does something I wasn't expecting; he starts chuckling.

I look over him curiously, "What are you laughing at?! I just blew up a building and killed a guy in the process!"

Bruce continues laughing, "Well, killing him is what you wanted wasn't it?"

I look at Bruce like he's crazy "Yeah, I _wanted_ to, but you said not to!"

Bruce still laughs, as if he hadn't heard me, "You know, for your first rescue mission, that wasn't bad!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I shout at him.

Bruce is now giggling like a madman—not hearing a word I'm saying—and collapses to the ground in fits of laughter.

"_Bartus, go take all of these cats and meet up with Lotus and Boots, they are hiding near the lair. There's something really wrong with Bruce!"_ I shout at Bartus, getting down onto my knees beside Bruce.

Bartus runs off with all of the cats without hesitation and I stare into Bruce's eyes, "Bruce! Are you still there Bruce?! Stay with me!" Bruce's pupils dilate in and out, "H-h-h-e-elp!" He laughs insanely.

I am afraid I'm losing him, "BRUCE! Bruce come back!" I watch, with tears forming in my eyes. Bruce's eyes go dead. He's laughing, but it's as if there's no real person behind those beautiful, blue eyes anymore.

"Bruce…" I say quietly.

The motorcycles stop in the center of the Batcave. Tears in my eyes, I pick a madly twitching Bruce and carry him into the elevator. It dings and the door opens into the library. Alfred jumps when it pings, and turns around, "Lady Selina?" he says, confused by my tears, then he sees Bruce in my arms, flinching at every sound. "What happened to Master Bruce?"

"I d-d-don't kn-know." I shake with quiet sobs, setting Bruce down on the couch, "He was fine one second, and then he just started laughing like a maniac… Alfred… I watched the life disappear from his eyes."

Alfred clutches heart, "_Joker Venom!_" he murmurs. "…We may not be too late Lady Selina… You stay here and watch over Master Bruce, there's someone who may be able to save him."

Alfred rushes out of the room. "Wait! Alfred. What's wrong with Bruce?" I call after him. But Alfred doesn't reply.

"Don't worry Bruce," I rest a hand on his chest, "You're going to be okay." I say uncertainly, looking down upon his still twitching body.

April 12th 2012

I awake with my head resting on Bruce's chest, his body seeming normal again. Somehow the both of us are back in regular clothes. Me in my blue blouse and skirt I bought at The Pampered Ones, and Bruce in a grey suit.

I look around and Alfred is across the room talking to someone in a brown suit with a white lab coat on top. I turn back to Bruce, slowly lift one of his eyelids and am thrilled to find they too are back to normal. I clutch Bruce around his waist and hug him tightly. "_I thought I lost you!_" I whisper furiously.

"We almost did." A voice says. I open my eyes again and see the mysterious man standing over the couch. I examine his face further, he seems familiar, but I just can't place his face.

"Doctor Kirk Langstrom." He says, sticking out his hand. "Couple minutes later, and there would've been no way of saving him."

I slowly take his hand and shake it, "Selina… What was wrong with Bruce, Doctor? And how did you know how to cure him?"

Langstrom sits down on a chair across from me, "Ah, well, have you ever heard of the Joker?"

My eyebrows stitch together, "No. Who or what is the _Joker_? And what does he have to do with this?"

"Well there is this crazy super villain called the Joker. He is a big enemy of that vigilante called Batman. Anyways, about four months ago, the Joker invented this gas he called _Joker Venom_, and he was going to release it on the city. I was the one who discovered how to cure people who had been infected.

"Joker Venom is very dangerous stuff. It starts out like laughing gas, but when the chemicals start reaching your brain, it starts killing off your sense of reality, eventually you lose complete control and it's like you're not even in your own body anymore. And not to long after, you begin to die.

"Alfred tells me that you two were doing some chemistry tests and Mr. Wayne got exposed to a variety of it during a lab accident? Apparently someone mixed a variation of the recipe for Joker Venom and Bruce was the only one who was affected. Is that correct?"

I realize that Alfred made up that story to protect our secret identities, he was the one who put us in our clothes. I have to stick to that story, otherwise we could get in some serious trouble.

I nod quickly, "Yes. That's correct. We were trying to make a formula to uh— to uh— er…" I bite my lip, then I come up with something, "We were trying to create a solution to reduce the CO2 waste in our atmosphere!" '_Yeah, that's it. Sound like some seventeen year old that's _actually _concerned about the environment in Gotham'_ I think to myself.

Langstrom raises an eyebrow.

"Yes." I continue, glancing at Alfred for a split second, "Then this idiot in our lab mixed one too many substances, and it blew up, causing a fire. Everyone got out of there okay, but Bruce went back in to save our formula, and I guess when the other chemicals mixed with ours, it must have made that uh—what is it called?"

"Joker Venom." Langstrom provides.

"Yes, the Joker Venom. Bruce looked fine on the outside, so I didn't know what was happening to him until we were on our way back here."

Langstrom's eyebrow scrunch together slightly, "And you didn't think to go to the hospital?"

I chew on my lip, Langstrom is onto me. Luckily, Alfred cuts in, "I was with them sir. I knew what was wrong and that only you, sir, knew how to cure him."

For a moment, Langstrom doesn't look like he's buying it, but a smile washes over his face. "I'm quite flattered that you thought of me, I'm just surprised and a little concerned that you didn't get him to proper medical first, before contacting me."

The weight in my chest lifts. Good, he finally bought it.

Bruce starts to stir, "Well, thank you Doctor." I stand up, "We will know what to do next time." A strange urge pushes me, and suddenly I am hugging Langstrom and crying into his lab coat, "Th-thank you so m-much!" I choke.

Langstrom pats my back awkwardly, and Alfred places his hand on my shoulder.

I back away from Langstrom and give him a small smile.

"Well, I must be going." he says, pointing to the door awkwardly, "Just to let you both know though, it may take a while for Bruce to fully heal. His ribs were pretty badly bruised and pushed just a hair out of alignment when he collapsed. Also, the effects of the spastic laughing will cause his abdomen and his lower chest to be very sore for a while, depending on how he heals."

Alfred and I both nod.

As soon as Langstrom closes the door behind him, Bruce's eyes snap open. He sees Alfred and me standing over him, "Selina, Alfred, what happened?"

"What do you remember?" I help him sit up.

Bruce closes his eyes and rubs his temples like he has a headache, "The last thing I remember is me shouting at you, asking what you did after some explosions started happening."

I suck my lips for a second, "Well, the chemicals on Dorian's shelved mixed together during the explosions I caused, and apparently they mixed and created a version of Joker Venom. The cats and I weren't affected by it somehow, but you were."

"Joker Venom?!" Bruce shouts, standing up rapidly, but he groans in pain and sits back down. "Ow. My head." he sighs.

"Careful Master Bruce, you've been through quite an ordeal." Alfred says.

"How am I still alive then? And how'd we get back here?"

Alfred speaks up, "Lady Selina brought you back here last night. As for how you're still alive, I informed Dr. Kirk Langstrom about the situation and he cured you."

Something crosses my mind, "Wait, Alfred. How did you get my clothes?"

Alfred smiles, "Actually, you can thank your cats for that. Just after you arrived, three of your clan and one other cat brought that outfit here. So, after I called Dr. Langstrom, I took your suits off and put you into clothes so the doctor wouldn't find out about your secrets."

Bruce pats Alfred's arm, "Thank you Alfred. You saved both of our butts."

Alfred gives a small bow and smile, "I would do anything for you Master Bruce." He winks and walks into the kitchen.

I sit down next to Bruce and he lays a hand on my knee, "Thank you too Selina." He says gratefully, "Without you, I would have died."

I smile, but then frown, looking down at my lap "Well, it was my fault. I caused you to get infected, so it was the least I could do."

Bruce rubs my back, "We all make mistakes. And actually, the least you could have done was leave me behind… Any other person who had only known me a couple of days would not have gone to the same lengths as you to save my ass. Even if it was their fault."

I smirk and look back at Bruce, thinking of something funny to say to cheer us both up, "I guess you're right. Even when I totally screw up, I am fabulous!"

Bruce laughs, but stops, clutching his chest.

"You alright?" I ask, concerned.

"I'm fine. Just the effects of the Joker Venom still wearing off I guess."

I stay silent for a moment, "You know Bruce, you're the first human I've really cared about in a long time."

"I care about you too Selina… Do I really mean that much to you?"

I nod, "It wasn't until last night that I truly realized it… I really thought I'd lost you."

Bruce holds my hand with both of his and looks deeply into my eyes, "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Good." I say quietly, slowly leaning in towards to Bruce. Bruce leans in closer to me too, and before I know it, our lips are touching. I move my hands around Bruce's waist and pull him closer. We are kissing slowly and passionately and Bruce's hands just graze my waist under the very bottom of my shirt, but not going any higher. I put my hands behind his head and we continue kissing, his hands gently rubbing the small of my back. Bruce picks up the speed of the kiss ever so slightly and moves his hands back on top of my shirt, slowly moving up my spine.

"Master Bruce—oh my." Alfred comes into the room and sees the two of us.

Bruce and I break apart quickly at the sound of Alfred's voice.

"Yes Alfred?" Bruce asks, moving away from me by an inch.

"Er— your breakfast is ready sir." Alfred says awkwardly.

"Oh… We'll be in in a moment." Bruce says, standing up, and flinching slightly.

Alfred nods curtly and walks out.

"I'm so sorry Bruce. I don't know what came over me." I say quickly, avoiding his gaze.

Bruce raises an eyebrow, "You did nothing wrong Selina. And if you did, I'm as much to blame as you. If not more."

I look into Bruce's eyes for a moment, with a glimmer of a smile, then look down at the floor, walking into the Kitchen. Bruce follows close behind me.

Alfred has spread a small arraignment foods in the kitchen varying from your normal breakfast items like pancakes and eggs, to your more posh items such as smoked salmon and caviar.

"This is a rather large breakfast Alfred, why so much?" Bruce asks, scanning the room.

"Well Master Bruce, you're still under the weather and just narrowly escaped a possible death, so I thought, why not celebrate the fact that you're still with us?"

Bruce grins, "You didn't have to do all of this for me Alfred. I would have been fine with the usual waffles and eggs benedict."

Alfred smiles, but doesn't say anything else.

Having more of a taste for seafood, I go straight for the smoked salmon and caviar, then I grab a pancake.

I sit down at the round kitchen table and wait for Bruce as he gets his blueberry waffles.

When Bruce starts to sit down at the table, he winces, so I help him slowly down into his seat and scoot a little closer to him.

"I've haven't had a pancake in a million years." I say, cutting off a piece with my fork.

"Well you'll like these. Alfred makes some killer pancakes!" he winks.

I take a bite and it's like heaven in my mouth. The pancake is the smoothest buttermilk pancake I have ever tasted and has tiny dark chocolate chips mixed into it.

"Hoh mygob." I say with my mouth full. I swallow, "Oh, my god those are good!"

"I told you." Bruce chuckles, but stops and closes his eyes, "I gotta stop doing that." He groans, but still smirks.

I rub Bruce's upper back lightly, "We're going to get through this." I say, "Langstrom said it might be a while before you are fully healed, but we'll get there."

Bruce nods, "Thanks Selina. I'm glad I have you and Alfred to help me through it. I haven't been this incapacitated since I was four, when I had the measles."

We share a small, gentle laugh.

"More pancakes for you Lady Selina?" Alfred asks, bringing a pan full of them to the table.

I grin and nod, "Oh yes please!"

Alfred lays two fresh pancakes on my now empty plate and I can feel the heat rising up from here.

"Thank you Alfred."

"Sooo… No Emile Dorian to worry about anymore, right?" Bruce says.

"I guess." I say, "I just wish it didn't have to be death that stopped him from doing those horrible thing. I mean he was bad, but I don't think he deserved to die… it's not like he was a murderer. He was just an insane scientist."

"You're right." Bruce nods, "In fact I made I promise myself that I wouldn't fight crime with killing when I can. The only time I kill is when it is absolutely necessary. With Dorian, it wasn't at all."

I exhale heavily and stare at my pancakes, letting the heat warm my face.

The house stays completely silent for a while, and Bruce and I finish eating our breakfast. Just as I'm standing up though, I see a dark figure out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head quickly to see, but who or whatever it was has disappeared.

"Did you see that?" I ask Bruce, helping him out of his chair.

"See what?" he asks, still wincing as he stands.

"…Never mind…" I decide it was probably nothing and should just forget about it.


	7. Chapter VI - Stalking Prey

_Chapter VI – Stalking Prey_

April 19th

Bruce and I are sitting comfortably in the Batcave while Bruce tinkers with a few weapons and tools.

It's Thursday; a week since the Dorian incident. Thanks to Bruce and his _Batcomputer_ we were able to find an abandoned building closer to the Manor to establish a new lair for the clan. Though Bruce wasn't able to a lot of the heavy work, he helped me set up an amazing lair for my family; he designed walkways for the cats in the rafters and along the walls, a new bed set up that trumped anything I could ever think up, and a play room filled with things to keep a cat entertained for years. The most he could do was instruct me on how to install everything, but it all worked out perfectly. As much as I hated leaving all the work of assisting Bruce to Alfred the last two days, I have had to go back and help the cats get fully settled in. Not all of my clan have been too happy about the newcomers, but they're adjusting. I've also been filling up their stocks for those who can't or don't wish to hunt for their food. In addition to helping with the lair, Bruce engineered a bunch of tiny tracking devices that clip to the clan's ears so I can find them if something happens to them.

Even though Bruce hasn't been able to physically train with me, he still has been helping me; he's been talking me through new moves and attacks, improved defense maneuvers, and perfected forms that go beyond all of the things Grant and The Armless Master taught me. He's an amazing teacher, and has even promised to teach me that disappearing trick he always pulls on people.

"How are you feeling?" I ask. Picking up an odd metal staff. My finger brushes against a tiny trigger and the ends off the staff extend lightsaber style.

"Be careful with that." He says, gesturing at the staff.

"Okaayy." I pout playfully.

"As for me, I'm doing better than yesterday, but not amazing."

I stand up, "D'you need me to get anything for you?"

"A glass of water would be great." He smirks.

"You got it Batty-Boy."

The elevator comes to a halt and I step out into the library. I stand in the warm sunlit room for a while, looking up at the shelves of books that reach the ceiling, letting my eyes adjust to the natural light. It's incredible how nice the weather has been in Gotham in the past few days. I close my eyes for a moment, letting the sun shine red through my eyelids. When I open them, I see something dark standing outside of the window in the distance. I blink and it's gone, but I know what I saw; a dark figure watching me. When I saw it last week, I thought I was just seeing things, but it's been popping up here and there all week, and now I'm getting nervous. I don't like the thought of someone watching me, especially by someone who seems to be purposefully letting me get a glimpse of them. I haven't even told Bruce about it, even though I should, but I don't want to worry him with something else. I mean, he's already got enough on his mind already with his injuries, he doesn't need to be worrying about something he can't help with.

I take a few deep breaths, then walk into the hall towards the kitchen to get Bruce's water.

Alfred is sitting at the breakfast table, polishing some of the silver. He notices me and stands up, "Lady Selina," he says, "Is there something I can get for you?"

"Just getting some water for Bruce," I smile. Alfred starts to walk around the table to help, but I put up my hand, "I've got it, Alfred."

He hesitates, but he nods and goes back to his work.

I reach up into one of the cabinets and reach for a glass. As I grab the cup, something brushes against my leg and I nearly drop it. I look down; it's Bartus.

"_What's the matter?"_ he asks.

I set the glass down on the marble island, _"You just scared me, Barty."_

Bartus cocks his head, _"Since when have any of us ever managed to scare you? Are you sure you're alright, Selina?" _

I bend down and pet his head, _"I'm fine… I've just been a little jumpy lately."_

"_Okay… You know, you can always tell me if something is wrong."_

I scratch under his chin, _"Thanks."_

I stand and go to the freezer to fill the glass with ice. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the odd expression Alfred has.

"What's up, Alfred?"

He looks up, "Nothing, Lady Selina… I am merely unused to hearing the conversations between a human and a feline."

I bite my lip to stifle my laugh. "I see." I turn, fill the glass at the tap, and make my way back down to the Batcave.

"Well you took your time." Bruce smirks when I step out of the elevator.

"So what if I did?" I tease, handing him the glass of water.

He takes a sip. "Thanks." He sets down the glass, "Can you help me up?" he extends his arm, "I want to take a walk on the grounds."

"Of course!" I say, helping him to his feet.

He starts heading in the opposite direction of the elevator.

"Wait, I thought we were going outside to see the grounds?"

"We are. I just don't want to go through the rest of the house to do so. Too much walking." He continues forward towards one of the walls of the cave, which I now recognize to be yet another hidden panel, though this one is smaller than the others. "Not even Alfred knows about this exit by the way." He adds, pushing back a piece of rock to reveal a keypad.

I raise my eyebrow questioningly, "Why doesn't he know?"

"Just because." He replies plainly, "Anyways, I wanted to show you the waterfall out back."

"Sounds like fun."

Bruce types in a code, "Well, come on then." He grins.

The rock panel slides up and reveals a ladder at the end of a tunnel. We head down the tunnel and I start making my way up the ladder.

"Uh, Selina?" Bruce says embarrassedly,

I stop and turn around. I smirk, "Coming."

It's a struggle, but we make our way up the ladder. When we reach the top, Bruce pushes up on a trap door and we're doused in sunlight. I help him out of the pipe and he stands, staring up at the sky.

"What a beautiful day." He exclaims.

"No kidding." I pull myself up and stand beside him. Before last week, I can't remember the last time the weather in Gotham has been this nice. In fact, I don't even remember the last time I saw a blue sky. I breathe in all the sweet flower smells from the manor's gardens—a scent I never got a chance to inhale while living on the streets. I stare around the estate, taking it all in—the small forest that lays on the left side of the manor, continuing all the way down that side of the cliff; the enormous decorative garden that obviously once belonged to Mrs. Wayne; and not to mention, the guardrail stretching around the entire backside of the property, marking where the land drops off into the ocean hundreds of feet below… I've seen some of the backyard of the manor from the inside, but I've never actually been out here before.

"So where's this waterfall of yours?"

"Follow me." he replies, making his way through the garden towards the guardrail. I step quickly to walk beside him so he can lean on me for support, and he gladly takes my arm.

"This was your mom's garden, right?" I ask, as we pass under one of the vine covered archways.

He smiles reminiscently, "Yeah. A lot of people would think that a high-class woman like my mother would be above such things, but she loved taking care of this garden—getting her hands in the mud and all that." He glances at a large group of purple flowers, "She did all of this herself you know, minus the arches; my father took care of those for her."

I glance around at the flowers in awe, "She had quite the green thumb for a one-percenter."

"Yeah." he simpers,

We approach the rail and Bruce leans sideways against it. I lean against it next to him, looking towards the horizon. I let out a long, low whistle, "That is breathtaking."

"Look down."

I gasp in awe, "Whoa…"

Coming out of the side of the cliff face, about a hundred feet beneath us, is a roaring waterfall that drops straight down into the ocean below.

"Now _that_, is a waterfall." I grin.

"One of my favorite parts of the estate. Truthfully though, it didn't use to pour out of the rock wall like that."

"How so?"

"One of the rooms in the Batcave is an enormous cavern that drops down into a huge underground lake at the bottom. I currently use to test out my gliders, but that pit used to be nearly completely filled with water that built up over the years thanks to a river of rainwater that constantly flows into it. The water fall you see now used to be a trickle that seeped out of a tiny hole. When I found that cavern, I knew that if I didn't drain the water, it'd flood the entire cave and cause a whole lot of problems. So, to speed up the draining process, I had a friend come in and help me break away some of the rock. The majority of the water has drained now, but the waterfall never stops because of all the rain we get around here."

"Interesting. So you created something beautiful out of something that could have been a potential danger to the support of the cliff and the manor resting on it."

"Pretty much."

We both stand there, bending over the railing, enchanted by the water. Then something crosses my mind, something I wanted to ask days ago, but forgot. "Bruce,"

"Yes Selina?"

"You never really explained what that Kryptodite stuff was."

"Kryptonite?" he corrects.

"Yeah, that. You said that was the substance Dorian was using, but what is it?"

"It's kind of a long story."

I laugh, "It's not like I'm going anywhere any time soon."

He grins, "Alright, but even I'm not supposed to be discussing this, so you have to promise you won't tell another soul."

I start laughing, "Who am I going to tell? The clan? As if they could do anything with the information."

He gives me a stern look.

"Okay, okay. I promise I won't say anything to anyone about what you're going to tell me."

He sighs and closes his eyes, obviously trying to think of what he wants to say.

"Just start from the beginning." I suggest.

He smirks and opens his eyes to look at me, "You're not helping."

I just smile encouragingly at him.

"Alright, well, I guess I'll start 19 years ago."

"Good, that sounds like a nice place to start."

He rolls his eyes, "Would you just shush so I can tell you this?"

I stick my tongue out at him.

"Okay, 19 years ago, in a small town in Kansas, there was a huge meteor shower that brought down a lot of new and foreign substances, more importantly, a type of green crystal that was definitely not from any planet in our solar system. The meteor shower—and the crystals it brought with it—caused weird things to happen to some of the people in the city, but even after the meteors hit, several people in the city were affected by the crystals in other ways, by coming in contact with it later on. To this day, people can still get infected by the crystals when combined with other substances or events."

"So then why is it called Kryptonite?" I interrupt.

He puts up a hand to silence me, "I'm getting to that. Be patient."

I turn so my back is touching the rail, but continue to watch Bruce intently.

"So, from what I've learned from Green Arrow and the Flash—"

"Um, who or what are Green Arrow and Flash?" I interrupt him again, my eyebrows so scrunched together that they're nearly touching.

"They're superheroes like us." He explains patiently, "The Green Arrow is a vigilante from Star City who takes on criminals with an assortment of crazy trick arrows, and the Flash is just a guy from Central City who obtained the power of superspeed. The three of us occasionally meet up and help each other or provide each other with information."

He doesn't say it, but I know that he's not going to reveal these "superheroes'" identities. Also, I noticed, that the way he described these "superheroes'" identities might have seemed very nonchalant, but I can tell he's just dumbing them down to make them sound less interesting to me so he can move on with the story. Of course, it's just because of that that I'm going to bug him for more information by asking, "How the heck did the Flash get superspeed?"

"Long story. Now as I was saying, from what Flash and—"

"Come on, Bruce." I beg, "How is it physically possible for someone to have superpowers? How did he get powers?"

His eyes are narrowing; I'm definitely wearing him out. Good.

"Jeez Selina, that's like asking why we're sentient. I don't know, it was something to do with a lab accident and lightning!"

Booyah! My method worked! I smirk, "Lab accident involving lighting—I'll keep that in mind."

He looks like he wants to be mad, but can't, "You going to let me tell the rest of this story or what?"

"Fine, fine. Go on."

"Alright, like I was saying, from what Flash and Green Arrow have told me, meteor rocks weren't the only things that fell to Earth on the day of the shower. Supposedly, a ship came down with them."

"A ship?!" I exclaim, no longer leaning against the rail.

"Yes, and if you'll just let me finish, you'll know why… Okay, so a ship came down with the meteors. This ship wasn't very large mind you—smaller than the largest meteor in fact—but it's what was inside the ship that's important; apparently, the ship carried a young alien boy, an alien that looked exactly like a human child. According to what Flash and G.A. were able to find out, the alien's birth name is Kal-El. The boy's true identity was kept a secret from everyone for a very long time, and even still, only a few spare people know his true identity.

"I am not one of those people, but from what I do know is that he was from a planet called Krypton—which was unfortunately destroyed—thus the name _Kryptonite_ for the name of the crystals."

I just stand there with my mouth wide open, unsure of what to say. "There're aliens living among us?" is all I blurt out.

Bruce smirks at my reaction—I must look so stupid right now. "Apparently yes, there is _one_ alien that we know is living among us."

"Wow. When I asked what Kryptonite is, that was not the answer I expected to get…"

"A lot to take in isn't it? I myself was only informed of all of this a few weeks ago. I'm not sure why Green Arrow and Flash didn't tell me who he is though. It was strange…"

I stay silent for a while and watch the water fall below, trying to take in and comprehend all of what Bruce just told me. Aliens among us? It sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel or movie!

"So." hw says breaking the silence, "Are we going to train today or what?"

"Ummmm. Actually, can we just enjoy the weather today? We've been training nearly every day and I kinda want a break."

"Okay. If that's what you want, then that's what we'll do." He grins.

I smile back at him, "I'll just go get a blanket then. You wait here."

"Alright. Just don't take too long." he winks.

"Ha, ha, ha." I squint.

Bruce laughs, and I head back into the manor, but through the normal back door this time.

Alfred is standing in the dining room rearranging the crystal in the hutch, and turns around quickly when he hears my footsteps, "Lady Selina! Where did you come from?"

"Bruce and I are in the backyard, we need some blankets to lay on."

"But how did you get in the back— oh never mind. Why do I even ask? Master Bruce always figures out how to get past me."

I try not to laugh, "Well, yes, um. Where are some blankets we can use Alfred?"

"Go upstairs to the second floor, there is a linen closet in the hall. First door on the right."

"Thank you Alfred." I say, still trying not to laugh.

Alfred sighs and shakes his head and gets back to rearranging the crystal.

I walk up the long, and extravagant arched staircase and find myself in the wide hallway lined with what feels like a million doors. "_Third door on the right._" I mutter to myself, "_Ahh. That one._" I say, noticing the door with the least amount of decorative carvings on it.

"_Oh my…_" I mutter when I open the door. There are so many different blankets, most too delicate to take outdoors. But at the very bottom of the closet are 3 thick, stadium-like blankets. I grab the red and the blue one and carry them back downstairs and outside.

Bruce smiles when he sees me and helps me stretch them out on the ground. "No trouble finding the linen closet I see."

I help Bruce sit down and smirk, "Even with all the other doors, it wasn't hard to figure out. I mean it was the least decorative door I've seen in the entire house so far."

"That it is." The corner of Bruce's mouth rises up a little, "Was Alfred pissed that we snuck past him?"

"Bruce, you should have seen his face!" I snicker, making an exaggerated version of Alfred's reaction.

Bruce laughs and turns over onto his back, staring up at the sky.

I do the same and reach over to grab Bruce's hand, "You know, I don't think I've ever seen the sky so clear here in Gotham before. It's incredible."

"Mmmhmm." Bruce agrees, holding my hand and settling in. He closes his eyes and soaks up the warmth. I turn onto my side and watch him lying there peacefully. "_Bruce…you're amazing._" I whisper quietly so that he can't hear it.

I awake suddenly, not more than 5 minutes later, feeling like I'm being strangled. Someone has their arms locked around my neck and a hand over my mouth. I try to scream for Bruce, but the arms squeeze tighter around my neck. I gag, and cough, but the arms keep squeezing until I can't breathe anymore.

I arouse for a moment, my neck in deep pain, and see a blurry dark figure over me. Then I'm out again.

When I awake again, I'm back on the blanket beside Bruce, no bruises on my neck, nothing. Was it just a dream? I see a dark figure watching me from afar, but when I blink, it's gone. Am I just paranoid? Who knows, maybe all of this has just been my imagination.

I shake Bruce to wake him up and try to act like I'm not freaked out, "Hey sleepy-head." I say gently. "The sun's going down, we should go inside before Alfred gets mad."

Bruce opens his eyes just a peek and smiles a tiny bit. "Did we really sleep that long?" he asks with a yawn, pushing himself up.

"I guess so." I smirk, but I guess I'm not being convincing enough.

"Is something wrong Selina? You look like you've seen a ghost."

I try and brush off the subject, "I'm fine. Just a strange dream that's all."

"Mm, okay, if you say so." Bruce replies, not quite convinced.

I help Bruce stand up and we gather the blankets. When we reach the back door, Alfred is waiting inside impatiently.

"Your dinner is getting cold." He frowns.

"Sorry Alfred." Bruce apologizes.

"We didn't realize we had been out there that long." I add.

"I can tell… Give me the blankets, I'll take care of them." Alfred says, his lips tight.

When Alfred leaves the room, Bruce and I share a look and both try not to laugh. We are in biiig trouble.

"_That was rather irresponsible of us_." Bruce tells me in undertone.

"_I know, but that's what made it fun!_" I whisper back.

After dinner, Bruce and I go back down into the Batcave so he can continue toying around with some of his inventions, and Bruce suggests we tell a bit more about our pasts—especially him since he knows more about me than I do him.

"Hand me that screwdriver over there." Bruce asks, pointing to a tiny, black handled Phillips head. I pick it up and give it to him.

"What are you working on now?" I ask Bruce, trying to see what's in his hand.

"One moment, I just gotta do this last thing…" Bruce makes one more turn with the screwdriver, looks down upon his work, and then opens his hands a bit. A small robotic, bat-like device is fluttering around in his hands.

"What is that?"

"It's a camera. It can fly up and hang off of ceilings and spy on people without their knowledge. This is actually my third attempt at making it. So far, all the others have failed miserably. I'm hoping that this one will work this time."

"Hmm. Interesting. Well, go on. Test it out."

Bruce opens his hands all the way and the batcam starts flying around the room. Bruce picks up a tablet and taps it a couple times. The batcam responds by diving up and down, then attaching itself to the one of the rocks above us.

"Seems to be working so far." Bruce says happily. He taps on the screen again and shows me what's on it. The batcam is picking up a perfect video of us from up there. Bruce taps the screen a couple more times to make the batcam move, but it short circuits and falls down into my lap.

"Dang. So close!" Bruce sighs.

"It just needs a little more work I guess." I pat his arm, "So, you going to start telling your story, or should I?"

"Oh yeah. I can start if you want." Bruce says, "What do you want to know?"

"How about before your parents' deaths. In other words, a happier time."

Bruce smiles distantly, clearly reminiscing over his very early childhood. "I'll start with the very first vivid memory I have of my parents. I think I was like 4 years old. They were taking me to my very first play. I'm pretty sure I stayed quiet though the whole thing—enamored by it I guess. It was a lovely performance of Romeo and Juliet. My mother held me in her arms the whole time and covered my eyes at the death scene. Ah, good times… Not too long after that, I had my fifth birthday. It was a small party with just a few of my friends from school. My father gave me my first allowance, and my mother got me my first real bike. After that, I can remember going to a real party with my parents when I was six, it was a party the company had thrown to celebrate the release of the new transport trains for Gotham. That was the first really fancy suit I'd ever worn. When I was seven, my father started teaching me how to build small electronics, like putting together watches, or remote control toys… Those are some of my fondest memories of my parents." Bruce's eyes are a little teary. "Sorry." He says, wiping them quickly.

"Don't apologize Bruce; I'm the one who brought up a sore subject."

"That's okay… How about we'll make it even? You tell me something _you_ don't normally like to talk about."

"Um, okay. I'll tell you about my first run in with Emile Dorian… 4 years ago, I was coming home from a session with The Armless Master, when I noticed a tall figure watching me. I ran, and when I turned my head around again, the figure was nowhere to be seen. Later that evening, I was eating with the rest of the clan—my original clan that is—and we heard a strange noise coming from outside. Next thing I know, a man is breaking into the lair. He went after the cats and came for me next. He almost got me, but—" I stop, feeling dizzy as flashes of the event sear my eyes.

"Selina?" Bruce asks, concerned.

The room starts to turn sideways, and the next thing I know, I'm in another flashback.


	8. Chapter VII - Another Random Flashback

_Chapter VII – Another Random Flashback_

I'm standing behind my nearly 15-year-old self, who is aiming kicks at The Armless Master, "Higher!" he instructs. Young Selina kicks higher, "Spinning Wheel Kick!" The Armless Master commands. Young Selina turns and arcs her leg up in a 360 kick. "Good." He says, but then pushes her back in the stomach. The Armless Master puts his foot against her center, "Strong! You have to keep your core strong!" he shouts. He pushes my younger self in the stomach again, but this time she's prepared. She holds her ground and swings a good hit at The Armless Master, slamming him in the chest. "Better Cat, better." The Armless Master always called me cat, "That's enough for today Cat. Be here same time tomorrow. You are getting very good. Just concentrate on your core!" young Selina nods and bows to her master, "Thank you, master."

Just as young Selina exits the dojo, Kai (he always told me to call him Hellhound, but I refused) walks past. "Kai." She acknowledges, bowing her head ever so slightly.

"Selina." He says, stiffly back.

Man, Kai and I used to hate each other so much. It was the reason The Armless Master never trained us together, we always ended up beating one another to a pulp.

My younger self steps out onto the street, getting a sensation that she's being watched, she turns around quickly to see if it's Kai, but he's already inside. Young Selina looks around, and sees a tall figure in the distance watching her. She starts sprinting, zigzagging through the streets to make sure the figure isn't following her.

Young Selina slides into the lair, nearly out of breath, and Marinn strides over, _"Is something wrong Selina?"_ he asks.

"Someone was following me. I'm pretty sure I lost them, but they were watching me when I came out of the dojo."

Marinn cocks his head, "I wonder why someone would be interested in spying on you… How was your training today?"

"The Armless Master says I'm getting better, I just need to strengthen my core."

"Do you enjoy the training?"

"Oh very much so! I love fighting, and The Armless Master is an amazing teacher."

Marinn nods, but his ear twitches towards the door. "Someone or something is near! Everyone hide!" he shouts. Young Selina and Marinn back away from the door just as it crashes open. A tall, foreboding man and 3 huge thugs jump in and the clan scatters. The man reaches for my younger self, but she manages to get a good swing at him and runs.

"Not a wise thing to do Miss Kyle!" the man shouts. Young Selina cowers behind a wall and is very confused. How did the man know her name? We hear a loud yowl from a cat as the man grabs Helilah. _"MOMMA!"_ Bartus wails. Young Selina picks him up, and doesn't know what to do. There are 4 of them and only one of her, she could never put up enough of a fight. She sees a shadow coming her way and runs in the other direction. Young Selina tries to save another cat, but one of the thugs almost grabs her, so she is forced to make a run for it. Young Selina watches in horror as the man and the 3 thugs walk out of the lair with all of the clan in cages. Bartus and my younger self are the only ones who managed to escape. Both my younger self and I start to cry, and Bartus is wailing for his mother.

Young Selina walks—I'm forced to glide behind her—back into the lair to inspect the damage. When we hear a pitiful meow; trapped under a piece of wreckage, is a seriously injured Marinn.

"_Marinn!"_ young Selina cries, attempting to lift the piece off of him.

"D-don't waste your strength Selina. I'm already t-too far gone; y-you can't save me." He says quietly.

"No…" she cries, "You can't die Marinn! You can't!"

"You h-have to let me go. S-save yourself before th-they come back. P-protect Bartus. Don't let me and h-his mother die in vain." Marinn gives young Selina one last encouraging nod, and then he's gone.

"NOOOOOOOO!" she wails, pounding her fist against the ground. "Marinn…" young Selina strokes his lifeless body gently, and I watch with tears streaming down my face.


End file.
